Paradise Lost
by Alu In Chains
Summary: Some men aren't looking for anything logical like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
1. Spring Break

**_A/N_:** Okay, I know I have a lot of stories going on but I really needed to get this out of my head. I hate inspiration. If there's anything that would kill me, it would be inspiration. No joke. Anyway, there's a few things that I'd like to say and also ask for... so please, if you're reading this, you don't even have to review. Send me a message if you want filled with ideas or advice for the plot, don't matter to me. Now, the rating for one, I was a bit confused on. I was raised by parents that cuss like sailors, so I have no clue if this is too much to be considered to be rated T or M. I'll start out with M just to be safe but, if you don't think it's too much then please, let me know! I'd really like to have the appropriate rating for this story.

Yes, I am very aware that the story summery I used is a quote from The Dark Night, but I honestly could not think of anything better to put. I do not take any credit for the summery used. All credit goes to... everyone who participated it writing the script to that movie.

Mike, Sully, and Boo will have big rolls in this story, so don't worry! It's not just centered around Randall though it may seem like that from time to time. I'll try to do my best to revolve around maybe every few chapters. This is my first Monsters Inc. fiction, and I know I still have some improving to do when it comes to writing so again, any advice or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

**_Disclaimer_:** I do not own Monsters Inc. I do not own Randall, Boo, Sulley, Mike, Celia, Waternoose, Needleman *gasp for air* or anyone else who is doing as I say right now. They are just being kidnapped... or 'surprise adopted', to do my evil bidding. Anyone else who was not seen in the movie at all, what so ever, belongs to me. If you would like to use any characters I make up, please ask my permission. I'm not a tyrant, if you want to borrow them just give some credit. =)

* * *

This had to be the worst day of his entire life… so far. Sure, there had been other bad days during his stay here in Hillbilly Hell, and he had been wrong before when it comes to what was 'The Worst Day of His Life' but this definitely takes the cake. He would much rather be back at home, living in Sullivan's shadow, than go through this routine _every day_.

He didn't know how long ago the swamp had become a large forested area, or how far he's traveled for that matter. All he knew, was he had to lose these idiots. They had been following him ever since that hag with the shovel realized he wasn't an alligator. He didn't even know what the hell an alligator was until he came across one while running from them!

_Randall Boggs_, he thought to himself, moving as fast as his exhausted body would allow, _if you live through this, be sure that Sullivan and Wazowski will not! _

Randall ducked onto all four limbs, crawling under low bushes. When he was clear, he pushed himself up, and continued to make his way deeper into the woods. They had been following him for a few days now. Randall would lose them at night, be too exhausted to run anymore, sleep during the day, and wake up just before they've caught up with him. He had to hand it to them, though, they were pretty good trackers.

Not to mention these guys had home field advantage. He was a stranger to the human world outside of a kid's bedroom. He had no clue how to possibly survive and feared that if he didn't figure out how to adapt soon, he'd run out of time. But adapting was his problem, he just couldn't figure out how to do it. He had lived in a city all of his life, not a forest! Not to mention this one was way different than what his world had to offer. Randall had no clue what to expect!

He slowed down for a second, dropping down on all eights. He was exhausted… and his head hurt. The water here sucks, it's making him sick. His throat hurt, so he can barely talk at all right now. Not to mention, he still had some pretty bruises and sore spots from when he was attacked with a _shovel_. And all the aches and pains in his body were affecting his ability to blend in with his surroundings. Yep, this was definitely the worst day of his life.

His fronds twitched as he was taking in the sound around him. Dogs barking, followed by hollered yells and whoops from the men currently after him. But he heard something else this time. Something that caused him to turn his head and look behind him, back arched, and attempting to hiss menacingly. The sound came out strangled, and he winced due to the soreness of his throat before shifting his emerald green eyes around the scenery. He couldn't see anything directly, but he could have sworn that he heard something. Then there was a click, like someone cocking their gun.

Without a second thought, he leapt up the nearest tree, scaling all of the branches in a frantic attempt to reach the top.

_BANG!_

His sudden burst of adrenaline was shattered at the sound of the gun shot, causing him to stumble on his way up. He nearly lost his footing and fell, if he hadn't of grabbed the next branch up to steady himself. Then he was numb, wondering how close he was to getting shot just now.

Not close at all, though, when he realized that he could see what had happened from his safe spot in the tree. All of the rednecks were currently gathered around a mammal they had killed. It was pretty good sized, probably a deer. The men down below were yelling at each other while the animal struggled to get to its feet, failing miserably to make its escape. Randall didn't flinch, nor look away. _Better you than me_, he thought to the creature, watching as one of the men pointed their gun and put the damn thing out of its misery. They left without another word, leaving their unintentional kill behind.

Randall settled on the branch, laying down on his stomach and settling for sleep. He was too tired to try and climb back down. Maybe if he just let himself fall over and kill himself there, he was pretty high up anyway… _no_! He was _not_ going to give Sullivan and Wazowski that satisfaction. He was going back to Monstropolis whether he lost all eight limbs over it or not, and he was going to make them pay. They were going to hell, that was for sure.

* * *

Tallulah, Louisiana. Population? A little over nine-thousand. Today's weather? Freaking _hot_! Thirty-five miles out of town was a thick forested area one could easily get lost in… for a few days at least. In the middle of this area sat a house big enough for a family of seven, maybe even more. And inside the house only one person lived.

It was seven in the morning and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Today was a beautiful day in the eyes of Jane Brooks. But it wasn't because of the nice weather, or how cool the water was in comparison to the heat. Today was something every college student in her class was celebrating…

"SPRING BREAK!"

The front door flew open revealing the twenty-one-year-old college student still in her pajamas. Sporting loose blue sweat-pants and a white tank, Jane let out another yell to the world, letting absolutely no one know that she wasn't to go to school for at least a week. She had no neighbors for upwards ten miles, which made it perfect to go swim in the lake and not have to share, so long as she stayed close to home.

Out of breath from her second outburst of excitement, Jane took off from the concrete porch, leaving the front door ajar. She had about a ten second head start into their large yard, before her dog followed suit, chasing the girl. Jane giggled, trying to outrun him but the large mutt had an advantage. A Germen Shepherd, St. Bernard mix tackled her to the ground, attacking her with a storm of slobbery licks.

"Ewwwww," Jane cringed, making a barf noise before shoving the dog off of her. "Ick! Sonic!" she scolded, standing up. Sonic wagged his tail, nowhere near as out of breath as his master, and tackled the girl again. Jane was prepared this time, and easily evaded the playful attack. "Sonic BOOM!" she yelled, and as if on cue, the dog barked up a storm. Long, loud, deep barks that probably traveled a few miles out. Well, he was named Sonic for a reason.

Jane laughed, but then stopped abruptly. She just remembered something…

"I'm low on groceries," she said out loud, looking at Sonic apologetically. The dog, not understanding what she had said, ducked into a playful stance, ready to pounce again. When Jane started to walk away, he attacked, jumping up to get tackle her for a third time. Jane, whom had the dog since she was thirteen, knew very well this was going to happen.

She turned and grabbed his collar, pulling him down into a submissive position on the ground. "No no!" she scolded, holding him down effortlessly. Again, she'd been dealing with him for nine years, and he was still in tip-top shape! Jane _had_ to keep up, in order to keep the dog from getting ahead of himself. Sonic whined, now submitting and no longer playful. Satisfied, Jane let go, and continued the trek back to the house. Better get there before the cat got out. Sonic whined, taking a moment to watch Jane go ahead before getting up and trotting after her.

When Jane got inside she quickly changed into a T-Shirt at least, figuring the sweat pants wouldn't be so bad. She'd just go to the store, stock up for this month so she wouldn't have to go anywhere for spring break, and rent a movie on the way home so she'd have something to do for tonight. Sounded like a good plan to her anyway. Not like she had many friends to join her. It was just her, Sonic, the cat and… well, the bird. Jane shuddered. She _hated_ the bird, but Tony wasn't going to spoil her day yet, so while she had the chance, she snuck by the living room without being detected by the feathered demon. After putting Sonic in the kennel and checking the cat's food and water, she was off to the store.

* * *

His back felt so stiff. How long had he slept anyway? Randall stretched his back, popping it while he did so, and stood up on his lower fours while taking a look around. Looked like the sun was setting. Not only that, he felt a _hell_ of a lot better than yesterday. His aches were minimal, his throat didn't hurt as much, and his head didn't hurt at all. Maybe things were going to start looking better for him.

"Testing, testing. One, two, three," he said, out lout to no one other than himself, happy to know that his voice was even better today as well. Today was great! He was close to being one-hundred percent again, and today was warm enough that traveling at night wouldn't be so bad. Randall would make it back to Monstropolis in no time, and he can get back at those bastards that sent him here! But first, he's gonna have to lose these idiots.

The welcoming committee he ran into within the first hour of being in the human world was back. Dogs barked, shoving their noses into the dirt for any traces of their prey. Their owners followed close behind, some doing some tracking of their own. One of them, a boy at the age of twelve, stood close to the biggest dog while fiddling with a leaf he had found. His eyes shifted from one adult to another, before letting his gaze rest on the man to his very right. "Hey dad?" he asked. The man responded, looking down at him with one brow raised. The boy looked down at his leaf and played with it a little while longer, "I know you're tryin' ta teach me how ta hunt 'n all but… isn't this a little much? We've been chasin' this thing for nearly a week now 'n… I kinda wanna go home."

The man snickered, looking away from his son only to watch their dog in the process of tracking. "It aint all 'bout that son," the man replied, resting part of his shot gun against his shoulder while using his free hand to scratch under his hat, "That thing there is probably an alien, or a mutant. If we can sell it off to scientists we may be able to get a cash reward for it! Then we can all get ourselves some nice new huntin' equipment!" he smiled. His son ripped the leaf to shreds, before looking back up at his father and smiling. "Does that mean I'll get my own rifle?" he asked, hopeful.

"You'll even get ta pick it out yerself!" his dad chuckled in reply, giving his son a good ol' pat on the back. Randall hissed quietly, not liking the redneck's plan.

"They're not taking _me_ to no scientist," he thought out loud, before climbing down the tree and taking one good glance at his surroundings. Just one more thing to test. With much success, Randall looked down to see… nothing! Not even himself, or his shadow! He could blend again! Oh this would be a piece of… one of the dogs started barking, taking a running start in his direction.

Oh yeah… dogs can smell.

Randall darted as fast as he could, knowing all they had on him was scent. Those retards couldn't see him at all. This was going to be so much easie- "OW!"

While he was so happy to know he could blend again, Randall didn't notice one of the dogs catching up to him, and taking a bite out of his tale. Damn thing couldn't see him! How would it know to bite where it did?

* * *

When Jane parked her truck in the driveway, the sun was beginning to set. Locusts were singing their evening song, frogs croaking out in the distance, crickets were chirping and more importantly, fireflies were dancing. The long line of trees before the sunset was a dark silhouette, and anything still being hit by the sun's rays was almost as shade of red. A few clouds here and there were also colored the warm shade. It was very pretty, Jane had to admit. Yeah, she'd spent a lot of sunsets standing in the very spot she's in now, but not a lot were as clear as this. It was… nice. She wished every day would be like this. That or time would just stop forever and she'd always look out her window to see such a beautiful sight.

Before grabbing any groceries, Jane went over to the garage and punched in the code, so she didn't have trouble trying to do that with a handful of bags. Eh, she might as well let the dog out while she was at it. Some welcome-home company wouldn't hurt, she figured. After Sonic was free of his kennel, he darted past Jane to the open door, stopping on the cool grass to sniff the fresh air. Jane smiled, watching him for a second.

Then his ears perked up. He was more attentive, and growling too. Jane noticed this, before noticing the sounds off in the distance. Dogs barking, men shouting… and then gun shots.

"Oh hell no," she grumbled, storming to the garage and pulling out her double barrel. No one was going to hunt on her property. When her dad lived here, Jane always admired how he handled situations like this. So much so that whenever the time came now and then, she did the same thing. If they were going to hunt on her turf, then they wouldn't mind a game or two then, wouldn't they?

Sonic growled a low growl, baring teeth in the direction of the sound. He didn't move when Jane passed him, stuffing her cell phone in her pocket while leaning the gun on her shoulder. She stopped a moment and looked back at her dog, staring at him with a look similar to his own. Sonic stopped his snarl for a moment to look at his master, awaiting her order.

"Sonic," she called, even though she already had his undivided attention, "Boom."

Again, on cue, the dog let out a loud bark, which faded into a howl, before taking off in the direction of the racket.

Five minutes later she crouched down behind a fallen log, snarling in the direction of the men. There were about four men, and a _kid_! A _KID_! What were they doing hunting on _her_ property with a _kid_? Sonic snarled, and barked loudly, the booms of noise starling all six of their dogs. Looking like a deer caught in headlights, Jane abruptly stood up in attempt to catch her dog by at the least his tail before he took off in the direction of the other canines. The largest, probably the pack leader of the dogs, was the first to confront him. While Sonic was bigger in size, he stood two feet away from the enemy, both growling in each other's direction.

Four guns were heard cocking at the same time, pointing at the new creature. Jane made a choked sound at the back of her throat, before cocking her own gun. Her click alone was louder than theirs, not to mention her gun was bigger. What was up with that? Where the hell were these guys from anyway? Stepping up next to her dog, Jane carefully aimed the gun between the ones holding weapons, ignoring the boy.

"The hell do you think you're doing on my property?" she demanded, Sonic still trying to win the intimidation contest between him and six other dogs.

One of the men lowered his gun, the other three following suit. Still, the unfriendly look on their faces didn't subside. "We're chasin' an alien."

Jane couldn't help but laugh. He cut her off with an angry yell, causing her to tense up and refocus her gun.

"How 'bout you mind yer own business, lil' lady. 'Fore you get hurt. Whatchu doin in the middle of the woods anyway?"

"I _live_ here," she growled, not backing down from the threat, "So why don't you and your kissin' cousins go back home? If there _is_ an alien around here, I'll take care of it myself. In the mean time, I own this land, and therefore you better hightail it. Cops are on their way," she smiled, hoping they don't call her on her bluff. Two of the men took a few steps back, almost ready to turn around. But not Jane. So what if she was still young? She wasn't about to let these guys run around her woods.

"Nice try," the man smiled, taking steps forward to call her on her bluff. Jane gasped, before letting out an audible sound of frustration. She pulled the trigger of the gun, missing him by just a hair but, well, that was the point. If they can't be reasoned with then she might as well just scare 'em off.

"I said get the hell out!" she demanded. The man was frozen, now seeing how serious she was. While grudgingly looking back, he started to turn around, calling his dogs off while he was at it. The growling animals backed off, leaving Sonic there to keep growling. "We'll be back!" the man called. They were running low on supplies anyway.

"When you do, make sure you bring your balls next time," she mumbled, lowering her defense. Sonic did the same, letting out a snort before turning around and heading home. Jane stood and made sure they actually left, before doing the same thing. But when she started to leave she noticed Sonic was still there, sniffing the air. Then he growled again, slowly turning his gaze back towards Jane.

"Damn it," she growled, raising her gun again. When she turned around though, they weren't coming back. Something else was upsetting Sonic, and she had no clue what.

A twig snapped to her left. She pointed the gun and shot, getting the tree instead of whatever was present. If it was unsettling to her dog then it was definitely something worth shooting at. Jane cocked the gun again, trying to focus this time. It took a lot of concentration, but after a moment, could kind of sense where this thing was. It was toying with her, she just knew it! Sonic was barking in random directions, sort of guiding where, whatever this thing was, was going.

Maybe that guy was right, and she was being attacked by that alien now.

But then again she did say she'd take the matter into her own hands so… without further ado, Jane pulled the trigger.

"Argh!"

Soon as the bullet made contact with the creature, it was suddenly visible. Just as the silhouetted figure could be seen, the last of the sun's rays died, leaving only the moon shining high above. It was a very eerie scene to her, really. Everything was highlighted by the moon, only giving some things like trees and leaves and, even the creepy thing standing before her, an outline. The creatures eyes shone as well, reflecting what light it could back at her, making her shudder.

It had to be at least six feet long, at _least_. Eight legs altogether, while standing on the bottom four, and a really long tail. It looked like a lizard, give or take. But eight limbs? Really? And fronds, too! This wasn't a creature of her world, that was obvious. This thing _had_ to be the alien that guy was talking about.

It stood there stock still, before blinking once and looking down at its wound. The way it was holding one of its shoulders, Jane could tell that she had gotten it pretty good, but not enough to kill it. Still, she was in too much shock herself to make herself cock the gun again. The creature then looked back in her direction, before scoffing loudly, a little disbelievingly, and let out an audible cry. "You shot me!"

It speaks English. _Oh my god, it speaks English._

…It freaking speaks English!

"You speak English!" she stated disbelievingly, dropping her gun and falling back. Obviously male, the creature bared rows of sharp teeth at her in an angry hiss. "Yeah, I do. You crazy bitch, you just shot me!"

She didn't know what to say.

Uhm, sorry? I didn't mean to shoot you, it was an accident! Yeah, totally looked like an accident… what the hell is she supposed to say? Jane gulped, now feeling terrible. Wasn't this thing going to attack her? Now that she thought about it, it could have just been curious, not really threatening.

Wow, she's just making herself feel worse by the second. "Look, I'm sorry, I was just very scared," she said, before wincing at the weak tone in her voice. Yeah, now she really sounds stupid. "L-Let me make it up to you, please?"

"Hell no!" it snapped, taking a step back. It turned invisible again for a split second, before crying out in pain and was visible once more. It cursed loudly, before beginning to stumble. Jane went forward, to try to help it. To _try_. Anything to convince herself she wasn't a horrible person right now.

It fell over, obviously unconscious now. Sonic was at her side, whimpering. His tail tucked between his legs told Jane that he was scared too. "It's okay," she cooed, petting the animal's head before turning to the strange alien. She felt awful… wait! What the hell was she doing? She'd been attending Tallulah Technical College for nearly what… four years? She could do this on her own, she thought. Just take him home, remove the bullet and stitch him up. Not like she hadn't taken a test like this before. Only, this time the patient wasn't a human… and when he woke up he was bound to be unhappy with her.

Jane closed the distance between her and the collapsed figure on the ground. When she was close enough she could easily tell that it had scales. This thing was reptile? One touch was enough to make her think otherwise. It was warm. Warm blooded, then. With a fever too, a rather high one. What the hell?

Picking him up was a pain in the ass. Damn thing weighed a little more than she did! Or so it felt like, anyway. "Sonic!" she snapped, kicking her gun with her foot. "Get that," she mumbled, while stumbling in the direction of the house. The dog, confused, whined. He had no clue what this creature was and whether or not they could trust it. Why was his master taking it back home? Letting out another snort, the mutt lowered its head and bit down on the cold metal of the barrel, dragging it with him towards the house. Thank god she didn't cock it a second time, otherwise he would have refused in fear of accidentally shooting her, or himself for that matter.

* * *

**_A/N_: **Again, guys, feedback is much appreciated. Please review, and if you can't then that's fine, just let me know what you think! Be nice too, my little heart can't take how nervous I am in posting this... x.x


	2. It's Laughter We're After

**A/N:** Many, many, many, MANY thanks to **pitbulllady** for all for being the first to review and also supplying me with a _lot_ of information that I had never caught onto before. Thanks to her and some suggestions that I have been looking up, I now have a much better idea of what I'm trying to write about.

The rating will now be changed to **T** until the story starts to get more graphic. But until then there's going to be some **swearing** and every now and then some **blood**, so don't say I didn't warn anybody. It's right here, I can prove it!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Monsters Inc., I'm pretty sure all of the original characters would be pretty friggin' devastated. So, luckily for them, I can't have any sort of claim over them except for the right to write stories. As for Jane, Sonic, any of her animals and eventually friends that will show up with minor parts in the story, they are all mine. They are the unfortunate ones.

* * *

Okay, for one, getting shot hurts. A _lot_. Randall stood there, mostly in shock, staring from the girl, to her gun, and then to his upper left shoulder. Blood was already beginning to ooze out of the wound he was subconsciously gripping, making him feel nauseous. All of the pain he had felt the day prior had returned. It was very overwhelming, that was for sure. His head ached, his throat was sore again, and his joints felt so stiff. If this was his panicked reaction to getting shot, he hoped this was the last time anyone ever pointed a gun in his direction. It was enough to make him… to make him…

Randall's thought process came to a slowed halt. After that, he had started to lose his footing, stumbling and swaying a little back and forth. His head _throbbed_ with each little movement, making him close his eyes before he threw up. And then he just lost control, and fell to the ground.

That was the last thing he remembered.

_Ugh… am I dead?_

In comparison to the cold nights spent outside, sleeping on mud that looked softer than it actually was, Randall was very warm. Whatever he was on was very soft too. Maybe he finally died? If he did, this afterlife wasn't so bad. He was on something soft, and so comfortable he didn't want to worry about anything for a bit. Curled up like a cat, head resting on a pillow, Randall snuggled deeper into the cushions. He was under what felt like a million blankets, but he wasn't complaining. It was warm here, wherever he was. Actually, this warm feeling he was having right now reminded him of the nights he'd pass out on the couch back at home. Maybe that whole ordeal with the little girl was all a dream, and he was never banished?

That thought alone was enough to make the reptile-like monster smile into his pillow. If that was the case, then there really wasn't anything to worry about rather than work. Maybe he should just take the day off… yeah, he'd do that. Just a phone call was all it took. Randall let out a loud yawn, arching his back off of the couch to stretch. Some of his stiffer joints popped, relieving built up pressure. What bothered him the most was that he couldn't move his upper left arm much without wanting to cry. That was when he realized… he wasn't on his couch.

Randall's eyes snapped open, not yet moving from his arched position on the couch. He didn't recognize his surroundings at _all_. First off, the couch he was on was cream white. A large, forty-two inch flat screen was directly across the room from where the couch was facing. The small television area underneath consisted of a silver DVD player, which sat on top of an ancient VCR. A movie rack beside the television had about a million movies sitting on it, half of them DVDs and the other half were all cassettes. Some of them were games for the Nintendo Wii, which was sitting just below the screen of the television.

To the left of the couch was a matching recliner, and to the right was a matching love seat. In the middle of all of that was a wooden, oval-shaped coffee table which held all the remotes to the DVD player, television, and the Wii. But there wasn't one for the VCR. The walls were a light beige, and the hardwood floor was made of Ash Wood.

Another look also revealed that it had to be morning, judging by the light coming in from the tall windows, which were on the wall behind the couch. He didn't realize until then too that the ceiling was very high up. What kind of house were they in? This was _huge_!

Randall slowly settled back on the couch, not curled up like he was. Where the hell was he? This wasn't his house, and this most certainly was not the woods. So where on Earth was he now? He started to sit up in order to stretch his limbs a little better, before stiffening some. A joint he had not completely moved just yet refused to budge any further than it had. His upper left shoulder was _sore_! Randall looked down at it to inspect the damage, now remembering what had happened the previous night. Sure enough, traces of stitching stared back at him. Baring his teeth in a snarl, he turned to look for the crazy broad who shot him. She wasn't in sight, but he could hear her.

"No, cat, this isn't for you!" her faint voice from the other room scolded. Randall growled at the sound of her voice. Once he saw her she was going _down_. He had no care for the fact that it was a girl; she _shot_ him! Who cares if she stitched him back up, nothings going to take away the shame and humiliation when he gets back to Monstropolis. Monsters are going to wonder what that scar is from. Oh, he got shot by a kid. That's not really a story he plans to share with anyone, especially if he finally gets the respect he rightfully deserved.

She came bouncing down the corridor into the living area(he just assumed that's where he is) humming something to herself, and stopped in the archway. The girl could tell he was awake, staring at him dumbstruck, but keeping her distance.

"I just came by to check on you," she said nervously, holding both hands behind her back. Randall growled, baring sharp teeth at her. He could feel his fronds stand straight on alert. She saw that too, and whimpered a little, breaking eye contact.

"You're running a fever," she continued after a moment longer, catching her breath. What, she's never seen a monster before? Randall paused in his growling, waiting for her to come a little closer. She did, albeit hesitantly, "And you had a lot of bruises. So, I stitched you up. But…you've been out for almost two days now. I didn't expect you to wake up this morning."

She got a little braver, lifting her head to look at him directly. Her shy body language disappeared, and she decided to walk over to the couch. Randall flicked his tail in agitation, scanning her for any possible threat. He saw none, really, but didn't get a really good look at her until now.

Long, light copper colored hair that reached the small of her back. Definitely longer than any fur on a monster he's ever seen. He stared at it for a minute, then moved down to see if there was anything else he could note. Humans looked the same, if he ever needed to find this one again(he hoped to god he wouldn't) then he might as well make some form of a mental picture.

Aside from that she wore a black tank top, and red shorts. So, she probably just got out of bed, since she wasn't fully dressed yet. After trying not to laugh at her fuzzy purple socks, he managed to maintain the snarl on his face and look at hers. Large, grey eyes glared back at him, as if she was doing the same thing he was. Black make up was smudged around her eyes, making her look kind of dead. She must not have cleaned her face at night if she woke up every morning like this.

"Where are you from?"

Randall didn't say anything. He just glared, letting out a low hiss. The girl grew a little frustrated. "Oh come on, I know you talk!"

He hissed louder, all of his muscles tensing; aside from the ones on his upper left torso. It hurt in some spots, but it was sort of an instinct. Given, it was an instinct he had developed while working for Waternoose in the scaring industry, but old habits tend to, ah…die hard. He wouldn't have held up his angry snarl for so long if she showed at least a little bit of fear. But she didn't.

Assuming he wasn't going to let her near him any time soon, she got up from the couch to leave.

That's when he decided to attack.

Randall dove off the couch, causing the blankets to take flight everywhere. Within hardly a second he had her pinned down on the ground, snarling into her face. His upper right arm was pressed against her neck, applying as much pressure he could without completely choking her out. His lower two arms held down her forearms, and a pair of his legs kept her knees from bending up. She was almost completely immobile, and the only reaction he got out of her was a startled gasp.

This was enough to drive him insane! She was nervous. He needed her to be _scared_! That's his job! Well… _was _his job. Had he lost his touch or something? Randall let out a furious yell, which to her probably sounded more like a roar. His upper left hand clenched into a fist he wanted to drive into her chest. Why wasn't she scared?

"You're gonna regret shooting at me," he said, allowing a nasty smile to stretch his features. He could feel her throat tighten up. Randall lifted the pressure just a little, allowing her enough room to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Technically," she choked, "I missed."

That pissed him off.

"Missed?" he roared, tightening his grip on her throat a bit. "I _felt_ it! I felt the blood that came from my arm!"

"Yeah, well- ah, ow," she winced, attempting to swallow again. He allowed her to. As soon as she did he reapplied the pressure he had been and let out a low growl, waiting for her answer. She took a choked breath before continuing, "It skimmed your arm. I stitched it up. Didn't find any traces of the bullet."

"It doesn't matter! I was still hit by it _at all_!"

She tried to say something, but he pressed harder while he kept yelling. "You have no idea what it feels like! And I was happy _not_ knowing! I should skin you alive and throw you in a pile of salt, you know that? Or better yet, maybe I'll-"

"Will you _shut up_ already?" she screamed, seizing him in mid-rant. Immediately his grip on her and all of her limbs loosened a little, but she didn't attempt to pull away. Randall was pretty taken aback by her outburst. It's been a while since he's been yelled at like that. Well, other than Waternoose's complaining about the Scream Extractor, but that was beside the point. He was around Fungus twenty-four seven, and not even the three eyed monster back talked like this girl did. The look on her face told him she was just as surprised as he was. Swallowing hard, she blinked a few times before taking a deep, much needed breath, "You have no idea how horrible I feel about it. Yeah, I know, its not one of those things I can just kiss better and it will all be alright. But please, _please_, let me find a way to make it up to you," she begged from underneath him.

Randall had to think for a minute. Every being in his body screamed no, but an idea struck his mind. "You got any family?" he asked, eyeing her for a second. She sighed, breaking eye contact.

"Yes, but they don't live here. It's just me."

In this huge house? Nuh-uh, there's no way this little girl lived in this place all by herself. Randall shook off the thought. The point is, she had family. Which means…

"How old is the youngest kid?"

"What? Why?"

"Just answer the damn question!" he snapped, trying not to let out another hiss. The girl flinched, scrunching her eyes shut. She whimpered a little, obviously unsure about whether or not she should answer the question.

To be honest, whether or not she deserved it, having power over her just felt so _wrong_. Having power over any female in general was just _wrong_, human or no. He was seriously starting to feel sick, but he needed answers. Just one more question, that's all he needed, and he'd let her go. But she still wasn't budging! Randall wanted to growl, to scare it out of her. That would just give her more of a reason not to tell him though, wouldn't it?

"Nine," she breathed.

Perfect. A kid! This was his first step into getting home! All he had to do was find this kid and their closet and go home!

"Alright, you wanna make it up to me?" he asked, not yet getting off.

"Uh, so long as it doesn't involve me feeding my own family to you," she grumbled. Randall scoffed. Eat her family? Does she _really_ believe that's what he wanted? He almost snarled if he wouldn't have caught himself. He shook his head.

"No! Ew, _god_ no!" Honestly, the thought of eating kids made him gag. How could she assume such a thing? The girl beneath him relaxed at his confession, now seeming more comfortable than she did when he had threatened her.

"Okay," she sighed, relief relaxing her facial features, "Can I get up now?"

Randall sat up, and backed away from her, albeit he was still alert. Just because she was close to being his ticket home did not mean he was going to be friendly towards her. So long as she accepted that, they were going to get along great.

"Look," she said, standing up and stretching her back, "I know there's a lot to discuss about why you need information on my youngest step-brother. But, honestly, you're still sick. I could feel your fever when you were just holding me down so, please, lay back down?" she begged.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going home! Now how far does your family live from you?"

He was almost to the front door when she suddenly appeared, running her back into it to block his path. He didn't even hear her run! That was creepy, he'll admit it. But that didn't mean her little stunt didn't piss him off any. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"My family lives very far from here. If you try walking in the state you're in, you won't make it," she murmured, pressing herself further into the door and locking it. Randall's fronds stood up a little further, showing his aggravation. But she didn't back down, just staring at him with a dead-pan expression.

"How far?"

"They live along the eastern seaboard," she said, looking away, and then back at him. She was definitely struggling on how to explain it to him, he could tell. Randall was a little offended by this. He wasn't stupid! Okay, big whoop, Eastern Seaboard. How far away is it from where he was? She answered his mental question the second he had asked himself, "We're a few states away from that."

Randall snarled. He didn't have a very good visual at all but from the sound of her explanation they weren't close at all. She lowered her head but still refused to move. "If you want to go on your own, you can, but just please wait until you're fully healed?"

As amazing as falling asleep on the couch sounded, he needed to get back home. He simply refused, but so did she. The girl still would not budge. Maybe if he slept for a few more hours… maybe then she'd let him go. Giving her one more glare, he turned around and headed back to the couch, without another word from her.

* * *

Rebuilding an entire company and its morals _sucks_. Not only did he have to come up with new slogans, schedules and advertisements; he also had to go through a lot of the paperwork too. Rather than matching up each child with their ideal monster to scare them, he had to dip into their likes and dislikes in order to figure out who would make them laugh the most. It was enough to make Mike say, "Well, pal, good luck with that," before leaving the big, furry monster in his misery. And it was almost enough to make James P. Sullivan himself give up. But if there was anything Sulley didn't want to be called, it was a 'quitter.'

Luckily, though, after a few sleepless nights of staring at paperwork and going through files and records(along with the help of Celia and Mike) with only few breaks in between, he had finally gotten most of the hard stuff out of the way. Now being jobless and promising their landlord that they were getting the money, the trio had all the time in the world to get this done in about a week and a half. Not like they didn't want to take their sweet time, but with there being an energy crisis, and no quotas on scream points being made at all anymore, was enough to rush them into finishing early. Now all they had to do was re-employ all the monsters, just in different areas. Obviously some scarers won't be able to make children laugh like they had made them scream. And this also told assistants that it was their time to shine. But all of that wasn't the problem.

Sulley was sprawled on his back in front of the fireplace, taking in the heat of flame. He held a clipboard above himself so he could still read it, while trying to decide which monster to pick or suggest to which job. Mike, sitting at their desk, was doing a similar task. He was going through applications and résumés of monsters that were interested in working for M.I. again, and others that have never worked for them before. While they were working on that, Celia was left with the final, and most difficult task that they had been trying to complete since the very beginning. She was sitting in Mike's small, round chair. It really wasn't very comfortable but, she didn't really want to be sprawled out on the floor either. It just wouldn't be appropriate.

The chair was so close to the ground for her that her tentacles were curled up tightly to her torso. Resting on her knees was a notebook with a million rhymes she was trying to come up with, mainly anything that had to do with smiles, or laughter, or _something!_

"Two and a half years," Sulley was heard mumbling out loud to himself. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked over at the back of Mike's head(which was also his body). He stared at the coloration of his friend's skin like it held the answers to everything he questioned. But in all honesty, he was just tired of staring at the damn clipboard. His comment had caught the small green monster's attention, and eventually Celia's, as they both were now staring at him with a questionable look.

"What about 'two and a half years,' Fur Ball?"

"Roz said she had worked for M.I. undercover for two and a half years. _Only_ for undercover work. I don't see any reason for her to come back and work for us again. Especially if she's Number One in the CDA."

"I don't quite get your point," Mike replied, turning back around to go through more applications. It was just like filing paperwork. And he _hated_ filing paperwork.

"Well, no one is offering to be the new Bookkeeper. No one is even _accepting _the offer of being the next Bookkeeper. And they have the most important jobs!"

Celia's snakes let out a soft hiss, each looking and exchanging glances between each other and their master. The female monster let out a soft sigh, having an inward conversation between her and her hair. This was something she could easily solve. Besides, before she even worked for Monsters Incorporated, she had to solve problems like these daily just to pay the rent.

"Temps," she shrugged, turning back to her notebook and jotting another possible slogan down. She glared at it, decided she didn't like it, and scratched it out.

"Temps?" the blue monster asked, tapping the end of his pen on the clipboard. Celia rolled her eye and turned to him with an expression that said 'are you deaf?'

"Just have temps fill the position of Bookkeeper until we find someone more permanent."

"Not bad," Sulley smiled, flipping the paper over the clipboard and moving on to the next page. Mike turned around and gave her a thumbs up, along with a 'Good Job, Schmoopsiepoo!' Celia smiled triumphantly, and turned around to jot down the latest idea for a possible slogan. She gasped at what she had wrote, staring at it for a few seconds. Her small mouth morphed into a bright smile, staring down at the paper. She was on a roll! One good idea right after the next!

The purple snakes in her hair giggled with excitement, giving small hissed compliments on the idea. Celia jumped up out of Mike's chair, sending paper and the notebook itself flying elsewhere. "I've got it!" she yelled, holding up her pencil triumphantly.

The two other monsters looked back at her expectantly, waiting for her next idea. Celia bit her lip in excitement, trying not to get too giddy. She was just so happy, she _knew_ they'd like this one!

"_It's Laughter We're After_!"

* * *

Randall was honestly the most comfortable monster in the world right now. Despite having been grazed by some crazy chick's bullet, beaten in the head with a shovel, bitten on the tail by a dog and even being stuck in the human world, no one was just as satisfied as he was right now. Partially asleep, dreaming peacefully of his plan to get back home. Yeah, he'd be there in no time. It's probably going to take a lot of patience to get a long with the girl though. Hell, he doesn't even know her name yet! Better off not knowing. It'd be too much of a risk. _When you name something, you only grow attached to it_, he thought, sneering at the idea of him being fond of her. Why the hell would Sullivan come to like the little girl? She was a _human_, nothing more and nothing less. All she was to them was a source of power. This human he was stuck with was more useless than that little brat ever was, so it'll be easy not falling for that trick.

But still… why? He never understood it. No, he was never directly mean to the kid, or did anything to harm her. Randall had always tried being gentle with her, despite the fact he had tried using her as an experiment for the Scream Extractor. At least he wasn't like Mike, who went as far as to trust Randall just to get rid of the kid! The reptilian monster shuddered when he tried picturing himself with this recent _human_. She was a mess, he'd seen that earlier when he saw the make-up smeared around her eyes. There was no way!

Randall took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself. He was halfway asleep when something huge and heavy leapt onto the couch, and settling on top of his head to rest. The monster growled, opening his eyes slightly to look up and see it was… a cat.

"Damn it," he muttered, kicking the stupid thing off of the couch, "Get out of here."

* * *

**A/N:** I have no clue why I ended the chapter the way I did but I just couldn't help but giggle at ending it with an introduction to Jane's cat. The idea made me laugh. Hope it made you guys chuckle like I did!


	3. News Flash

**_A/N:_** Okay, sorry this one took a little while to write. There were parts in it that have been re-written more than four times. I knew how I wanted this chapter to end, though, which caused it to be a little longer than the last two. Don't know if anyone likes that about my chapters or not but I feel a little accomplished by that.

Without further ado, I just wanted to thank all of those who are reading. I myself am an awful reviewer and always forget to leave a comment or two behind when I read stories, and I'm very sorry for that. But reviews are appreciated, just not as much as my story being read at all is. So basically, thank you very much for viewing!

**_Disclaimer:_** I'm not very creative with these but I'm doing my best. Ahem; Monsters Inc. is merely being invaded for a short period of time. I do no, can not, and unfortunately, will not own them. Ever. As for Jane, and any other characters that show up, no matter how minor the part they play is, they are my minions in this invasion. Sucks for them. *Sigh* Maybe someday when I rule the world, then I can claim everyone but until then, a girl can dream.

* * *

His fever was rising. Jane bit her lower lip, slowly pulling out the disposable thermometer so she wouldn't wake him. She had no idea what his normal body temperature would or should be. But when she pressed her palm lightly between the creature's eyes, there was no denying it. He had gotten worse.

Half of her wanted to call her professor and make up some hypothetical story so she knew what she was doing. But that was so out of character for the college student, that her professor would suspect something. Even so, Jane had no real experience in the field; only a few years of anatomy and First Aid. The real nursing was going to come from the program itself when she and her fellow students were to follow around real doctors and real nurses, and learn first hand. With that being said, whatever her professor had to offer would be way out of the girl's reach. She was lucky enough to know how to do stitches, and even _that_ was pure luck. Jane wanted to do everything she could for this guy, but turning to officials was just too much of a risk. They would take him away, try to find out how he works, invade her home and areas nearby to look for more creatures like him. That thought shook her. What if he had a family? Turning him in would separate them, and the others would eventually be found as well. Jane's stomach lurched. She didn't want to do that. She liked animals; not getting them cut up!

He shifted and groaned, bringing the startled girl back to reality. She stiffened, hand still resting on his head. Jane had to force herself to calm down, demanding the butterflies in her stomach to stop fluttering. She was nervous, and forcing herself not to be scared. _This was just a fever… along with a badly injured arm, major bruising, and god knows what else!_ she thought to herself with failed attempts to calm herself.

His eyes eased open, adjusting to the light in the room. Everything had a red hue due to the sun setting outside the window; very similar to yesterday's sunset, actually. Then he focused on her, and his eyes narrowed. Jane pulled her hand away. She realized that wherever he was from, she needed him to get back there asap. Until then, she was going to have to do the best she can.

"What are you doing?" he demanded hoarsely, raising his head. He found the task quite difficult, and fell back down to the pillow. Jane took a seat near his head, lifting the blankets a tad to examine the bruising on his back and along the sides. She gasped when a wave of heat escaped from underneath. He was _that_ warm? The creature groaned in pain when she felt the scales between his upper shoulder blades. He was even sweating! _Sweating_! A light bulb went off in her head; and thank god it did! She could break his fever.

"Okay," she breathed, setting the blankets back down and tucking them around him, "Stay under the blankets; your fever got worse. I can break it though, so don't, I repeat,_ do not_ get out from under the covers. I'll be back with more."

The creature growled at her as she left. It was a lot weaker than it had been earlier that day. _Probably the shock of everything_, she thought, stopping at a hall closet, _made him stronger for a moment; like an adrenaline rush. Or maybe it's just his reaction to fear_?

Jane returned to the living room with two more blankets, settling them on top of the mysterious creature. He didn't growl at her this time, though. She bent down to his level, pressing her palm to his forehead. More sweat. She could only smile.

"I'm burning!" he said, beginning to pant from all the heat. Jane giggled lightly, pulling her hand away.

"Nope! Just sweating. Just twenty minutes like this and your fever should be gone for the most part."

The creature scoffed, before coughing loudly. Jane winced and headed back for the kitchen.

"I'm getting a rag," she mumbled. This would be a good opportunity to get more information out of him. When she picked a rag and drenched it in cold water, she also grabbed a glass of water. His voice _was_ pretty scratchy, so maybe that would help. Plus, he'd been out for two days. She figured he'd even be hungry as well, but that would have to wait until his temperature was back to normal… whatever normal was, anyway.

Jane took her seat next to him, pressing the damp rag on his forehead. There was a moment of awkward silence. She bit her lip, wondering where she should start. She had no clue what to say, and the angry look he was giving her didn't help any. The girl pressed her lips into a thin line, bit down on her pride, and said something.

"You need to get home, I can't take care of you properly." "No shit, Sherlock," he spat, wincing when he spoke. Well, that went well. Jane took a deep breath, deciding it's best to ignore the malice in his tone. Brushing a few strands from her face she decided to try again.

"Well, where are you from?"

"Not around here."

"Just tell me and I can try to get you there!" she growled, losing patience. The creature didn't reply. Jane had him sit up a little and handed him the glass of water. He glared at the offering, and then at her.

"It's clean," she assured, rolling her eyes. He took a small drink. "Not a lot! Just a little," she mumbled, pulling the glass out of his grip. The rag was warming up, so she flipped it over and let the cooler side sit on his forehead. Jane shifted so she could get up and grab another one, until he spoke again.

"You ever had monsters in your closet when you were little?"

The question was so sudden and off topic, Jane had no reply at first. She looked back at the creature to see his eyes were closed, breathing in short pants. The answer was yes, she did. It took a hell of a lot to remember, but having a monster come out and scare her was something she just couldn't forget. Jane swallowed the lump in her throat and leaned completely into the couch.

"Yeah…" she murmured, thinking of the monster. The image that had been burned into her mind was all she could see when she closed her eyes. How scared she was, the scream she let out. Her parents thought she was crazy. But Jane knew it was real, there was no doubt in her mind. That was the only time anything had come out to scare her, though.

"Well every time a monster comes out of a kid's closet, it's not really their closet anymore," the creature said, and shuddered under the covers. Jane looked at him with a bit of awe. So this thing was a _monster_?

"Kids closets become portals between our worlds. So," he paused to let out a short, loud cough, "I guess you can say that I'm from a parallel universe."

Jane shuddered. This wasn't something she could just Google up a map to and expect to find answers. But it does explain why he asked about her family. Unfortunately they're all in Florida, and she couldn't just leave. Her mother wouldn't like such a short-noticed visit, and this all sounds so insane anyway… if only she could think of something…

"So you need a kid that's closet is more than likely to be used in order to get back," she thought out loud, relaxing back into the cushions once more. There were kids that could be getting scared scattered all around the world right now! Jane had absolutely no clue when the next time a kid's door in her area would become active. Maybe these doors had patterns… wait, why kids' closets anyway?

"Because we harness their screams to produce electricity. Simple, easy, and clean."

Had she been thinking out loud again? Jane shook her head and cleared her throat. There had to be another way. If their world was connected by closets then it had to have been connected in some other way before. The universe wasn't necessarily built the same way with closets. And if it had its own parallel's then there had to be some sort of bridge, or wormhole…right?

"What else do you know of that connects our worlds? Other than closets…"

He didn't reply right away. He actually had to think about that answer. After a moment he sat up and stretched his arm out in attempt to grab for the glass of water. Jane passed it to him and waited until he was finished. When he settled back down under the covers, he took a deep breath and looked at her. For once, he didn't glare at all either.

"There's only a few I can think of, mainly universal things though. Like radio, television, internet…"

Internet… wait. Internet! She had it! Jane leapt off the couch and ran to the other room, leaving the confused monster behind. When she returned with a laptop in hand, he cocked his head to show his confusion, before resting back down on the pillow. The girl squealed in excitement, opening the computer and typing as fast as her fingers were capable.

"How would you find out the patterns to these portals?" she asked, opening up a web browser. The monster rolled his eyes.

"They're not portals, they're machinery used in a factory. And getting to a website that belongs to my world won't be easy. It's the same as if I would be trying to go to a human website from home."

Parallel universes. Factories run by monsters. Kids screams being capable of conjuring electricity. This was all too much! Jane's brain stopped, her eyes locked on the monster next to her. It hit her like a ton of bricks in that instant that these monsters were just… just like her.

Factories meant work, which meant morning traffic to get to work. Work meant pay, which also meant that bills were a variety. Water, electricity, television… where he came from wasn't just some random magical place like she was treating it. These portals weren't just randomly chosen by whatever force is driven by them. They're probably picked and gone through daily by this factory so that they had certain children to collect screams from. Which also meant they had some sort of a schedule, right?

If internet was a sort of window between these two worlds then she should be able to get a peak at this business' website. Jane pressed her lips into a thin line, averting her gaze over to the laptop, which was loaded and patiently waiting for her next command. The girl slowly closed the computer shut, and set it on the coffee table. The monster beside her looked a little annoyed by this.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to try-"

"Shush," she murmured, pulling the damp rag off of his forehead. It was warm on both sides now, but still wet enough. Jane stroked the cloth down the creature's scales, wiping away any sweat, mud, and other grime that had gathered there. Great, she remembered that her couch was white. Just frickin' great.

The monster let out a weak growl, glaring at her while she cleaned what she could on his face. His eyes squinted a lot, she noted, trying not to snicker out loud to herself about it. Jane pulled the rag away and fiddled with it in her lap. She couldn't take it anymore. Calling him 'monster' or 'creature' just didn't seem right. This thing sitting beside her could talk. He went through a lot of things she did from getting up in the morning to use the bathroom, to getting home late from work. This _monster_ was probably more human than half the people Jane dealt with at work, and his appearance was anything but. So she had to think of something else to call him.

"What's your name?"

"Randall," he rasped, reaching for the glass of water again. Randall… odd name. Jane shook her head and handed him the glass.

"Name's Jane. Nice to meet you."

Another question that had been eating away at her. The one that made her stomach churn at the possible answers.

"Do you… do you have any family?"

Randall didn't reply at first. Jane was busy folding the rag as much as she could, before unfolding it and trying again. She was about to repeat her question when she looked over and saw that… he was sleeping.

Jane giggled, and left the glass of water where it was on the coffee table. There was always tomorrow, and it was getting late anyway. Looking at the clock on her cell phone she could tell it had been well over twenty minutes. After returning the blankets she had pulled out of the hall closet, she stretched and yawned. It was pretty late, and she had work in the morning anyway.

* * *

That stupid cat.

It was playing with his fronds this time, pawing at them like they were some kind of toy. Randall growled, and tried twitching the appendages away from it. The feline still pawed at them, trying to take hold of the middle one. The monster turned, eyes wide open, teeth bared, snarling loudly in order to scare it. It worked. The cat's back arched, and hissed right back, slowly backing away from him. Randall smiled. At least he could still scare _at all_.

His little moment of happiness was quickly shattered. A wave of nausea and pain hit him like a ton of bricks, sending him back on the cushions. He didn't feel feverish just very, very sore. The reptilian monster hissed in pain and held his upper left arm close himself so he wouldn't bump it into anything, or even use it for that matter. Randall hated feeling like this. He hated being weak and completely unable to fend for himself. This was just way too much! The one thing that bit at his pride the most though, was the fact that he was saved by, attacked by, and currently being taken care of by, a little _girl_. Given the fact that she was an adult, the way she simply talked to him gave Randall enough to think that she wasn't fully matured. What was her name again, anyway? June? No, that wasn't it. Jen? He didn't know. He didn't care. All he wanted, was to get back home.

As far as he knew, Waternoose could have overpowered Sullivan and Wazowski, and sent out a search and rescue for the purple monster. In fact, that's what Randall had _hoped_ for. When he got back to Monstropolis, whether or not the two that had ruined his life were in prison, Randall was getting the revenge he rightfully deserved. As for getting back there, well… this girl had family. So what if they were far away, the youngest could be a possible target for MI. What's even better is, if there was a search and rescue out for him, this girl herself was a former source of screams. If that was true, her file was still somewhere in the factory, given that it would be way in the back with the shredded doors, but they could probably track him down here and re-sync her closet with a new door.

The cat let out a loud screech somewhere on the other side of the house, followed by a loud bark and a thunder of paws running somewhere in the other room. The racket lasted for another five minutes without any interruptions, which got Randall wondering why the girl wasn't stopping it. Where was she anyway? And what the hell was her name? Jinni?

There wasn't a single sign of the human girl running around the house. And it was _her_ home to begin with. Where the hell could she be?

Randall tried sitting up again, biting back the protests his aching body gave. He had to get up to try and walk it off, if that was even possible. A few more minutes passed before he could fully sit up and hold his head straight. Gasping for breath for more reasons than just pain, Randall slithered off the couch and onto the cold, hardwood floor. He took a few steps before leaning slightly on the armrest of the couch. _Well, it's a start_, he thought to himself, before he felt another wave of nausea sneak up on him.

The aches and pains in his muscles were briefly forgotten. He needed to find a bathroom. Randall went from a light jog to a full on sprint in search of something to puke in. Unfortunately, he didn't stumble upon a bathroom in time. But, he did find the kitchen. And kitchens meant large sinks. Randall reached the large metal sink built into a dark granite countertop just seconds before his stomach let go of everything he had successfully swallowed within the last few days.

It. Was. Disgusting.

Over half the water and creatures he had swallowed were hardly recognizable within the dark goop which covered the polished metal. Not only did he ruin her couch, he probably ruined her kitchen as well. Just more things for her to remember him by. Randall found himself completely exhausted after he had thrown up the most disgusting crap he'd ever seen in his life. He leaned most of his torso onto the cold counter-tops, feeling a little better now that he'd gotten most of it out of his system. At least the nausea was gone.

Something caught his eye, however, on the island in the center of the kitchen. It looked like a human's equivalent to a cell phone, sitting on top of a sheet of paper.

**_Sorry, had to work this morning. If you're up, use my cell and call the work number down below. If you're hungry(which you probably are), feel free to poke at anything you want._**

**_Sincerely, Jane._**

Jane! God, how could he not remember such a simple name? Randall smacked his palm between his eyes, before crying out in pain. He really wished he hadn't done that. He read the note a few times over before deciding that, he really should call her. Chances are, she had internet at her current location, and the sooner he found out the current scare-schedule, the better. Randall picked up the phone and found himself completely dumbstruck. It was a touch-screen, which was too small for the three fingers on his hands. This was going to take a while.

* * *

Jeanie's Pets was a local pet store that had been around for about five years. It sold a variety of pets from your average cats and dogs to exotic fish and reptiles. Jeanie, the owner, had been an animal-lover ever since she was six years old. Any time someone would ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she'd say that she wanted to be a Veterinarian. When she was thirteen though, Jeanie changed her mind when her Australian Shepherd named Scooby was hit by a truck, and had to be put down. She didn't want to do that to animals, not because it was cruel but because she just wouldn't be able to handle it. So, she tried other options, and ended up owning her own pet store instead.

When she first started out, her store had very little to do with reptiles. Now, creatures like tarantulas, scorpions, corn snakes, ball pythons, and geckos of all kinds were sold at her store. Jeanie didn't mind it, really… so long as she wasn't the one handling them. Don't get her wrong, they were pretty to look at but, some people fear these animals for a reason. That was why she gasped and backed away from the front counter, staring at the pile of scales sitting before her in an exhausted heap.

"I don't know what could be wrong with her," the preteen boy standing before her shrugged. Jeanie felt bad, staring at the ball python with more fear than she had initially intended. The creature's head was facing upwards with its mouth agape. Its mid-section was rolled over to the side, convulsing every few seconds while the creature struggled to breathe.

"When did you buy that?" Jeanie asked, pointing a finger at the reptile on her counter. She shuddered at the thought of trying to touch it.

"I've had her for about a month," the boy admitted, then bit his lip and fidgeted, "I'm really worried though. Mom won't let me take her to a vet yet unless I asked your reptile specialists what to do. She doesn't want to waste money on a visit that could mean nothing."

Jeanie nodded, and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Jane!" she yelled off towards the back of the shop.

The strawberry blonde came bounding towards the front desk, stopping abruptly when she caught sight of the snake. She let out an audible cry, and scurried up to the python, holding up the creatures head. The python's tail wrapped weakly around her wrist, the snake's head tilting to get a better look at the newcomer. Its tongue flicked to catch her scent, causing its midsection to twitch somewhat.

"Have any clue what's wrong with it, Jane?"

"It's a girl," Jane corrected, giving Jeanie a small snicker, "and it could be one of two things. How hot is the cage you keep her in?" Jane asked, turning to the snake's rightful owner. The boy stroked his pet's back, pressing his lips into a thin line.

"About ninety-four on the warm side, and eighty on the cool side."

The girl nodded, inspecting the snake's mouth and nose for any signs of mucus or any other discharges. She made a noncommittal sound at the back of her throat when she found neither. After a few more seconds of inspecting the snake's odd behavior she handed the reptile carefully back to her owner.

"She has a respiratory infection, so yes, you need to take her to a vet."

Jane bent over to be at eye level with the kid, stroking along the snake's back, "She's going to need a lot of treatment, but it's curable. The vet should be able to handle it. Oh! And tell your mom I said hi."

Working at Jeanie's Pets was a pretty decent job for Jane. The girl smiled and leaned partly on the counter, waving goodbye to the customer as he raced off to his mothers sedan in the parking lot. Jeanie shuddered and let out a loud gagging sound, freaking out over how close she had been to touching it. Jane rolled her eyes and smiled, waving the woman off before returning to the back room.

A blanket with tree frogs printed on it was the store's equivalent to a door which lead to said back room. Back there were several thirty-gallon tanks, some holding freshwater fish, others holding saltwater fish, and the rest holding turtles, snakes, and lizards. Towards the very back was a small corner which resembled a kitchen with counters, a sink and a garbage disposal. In the center of the small area was a round, fold up table with four fold up chairs surrounding it. On said table sat a tub full of pinky mice next to a man currently holding a handful of baby corn snakes. Next to the tub were four smaller cages very similar to the ones you can buy for five dollars at Wal-Mart. He was in his mid-twenties, standing next to a woman a few years older who was trying to pick out each snake individually to set them in a smaller tank.

"Need help guys?" Jane asked, pulling out one of the corn snakes and playing with it. It was so tiny, she couldn't help but gush over it like one would over a newborn kitten. The man had about four left sitting in his hand, each moving a little slower than they had when they were first pulled out of their box. The woman next to him took two of the remaining four, giving them both a box to share, since they were both the same color.

"No," the woman sighed, taking one of the two left on the guys hand and began playing with it the same way Jane was holding hers, "Just organizing the new shipments. What did Jeanie need?"

"The boy who bought our last female python a month ago came back. It had a respiratory infection so we might have to check up on some of our other animals, just to make sure none of the others have it. What all do we have here?" Jane asked, trying to get a better look into the small cages without startling the snake she had just gotten to calm down.

"Normals, Blood Reds, Albinos, and Candy Canes. The one you're holding is a Blizzard, which is odd because we didn't order any. He must have snuck in there before the breeder packaged them up to ship off," the woman shrugged, "I didn't see him until just now."

Jane looked down at her snake, noticing that he didn't have a pattern like most of the others. That was probably why he caught her eye, then. She cooed and lifted the snake up so she could get a closer look. The reptile had calmed down quite a bit since she had first picked it up, which settled Jane's thoughts. She had to buy him now.

"I'm keeping him," the younger girl smiled, stroking the scales. Then she shifted a look to the box of pinkies, "Oh! The ones up front need to be fed, just so you know."

"I do, that's why they're out. Hey, Kate was in the back answering phones a minute ago, but the Day Care said something about Ali getting into another fight with one of the boys."

Jane snickered, "Okay, so why does this include me?"

"The last phone call she got before that one was from your cell while you were up front, but it was a guy. He's on hold back there."

At first Jane had no clue what the woman was talking about. Her cell phone was in her back pock…et. After a second of feeling the outside of her pockets she realized that her cell phone wasn't actually there. Jane panicked for a second and passed the corn snake over to the man, who muttered something under his breath. She was halfway across the back room heading towards the front again before she remembered something.

She stopped where she was and turned around, cursing herself for forgetting. Jane stomped most of the way towards the phone, which was on the opposite side of the room from the small kitchen area. Sure enough, Kate was there talking away on her cell phone, arguing with the Day Care woman on the other end. Kate was in her mid-thirties, but definitely didn't look it. Her long auburn hair fell in her face when she turned abruptly to face Jane. When she registered who the intruder on her conversation was, her expression softened and she sighed, moving away from the phone. Line one was flashing. Jane picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Finally," Randall growled, sounding exhausted.

"Feeling better, honey?" Jane asked lightly in contrast with the malice in his tone. The voice on the other end grumbled something she couldn't register. Jane sighed, hearing objects being thrown around in the in the background of the other end. He was going through her fridge.

"So why did you need me to call you?"

"Because I have a better internet connection here at work, and I figured you could guide me to the website."

"Alright," Randall sighed, and she heard the fridge close. Jane scowled.

"Hey, I'm cool with you eating my food but you better not be wrecking my kitchen," she said.

"Jane, the Burmese Python got out again!" Kate yelled from across the back room. Jane let out a cold laugh, ignoring Randall's smartass comments from the other end. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her free hand, letting a slow breath fall from her lungs.

"I'll be right back, Randall. I need to go grab the lap top anyway, so just hold on."

* * *

Randall had figured out how to put the phone on speaker so that looking for food would be easier. He was currently going through cabinets, since her fridge was now destroyed thanks to him. He didn't care though. He couldn't find a single thing edible in this entire house, as far as he went. Okay, so a lot of the food was very edible, he was just being very… picky.

Half the foods he had found so far reminded him very little of what Monstropolis had to offer. Given he could probably stomach the meat for a little while, he didn't want to give it a shot. Cereal sounded good for a minute before he wondered where humans got their milk from. When most of her cabinets had been looked through carelessly, Randall started checking under the sink and various other places before coming across a pantry.

"Got it!"

He forgot about Jane surfing the internet on the other line, mainly because they've been waiting for the website to load for the past twenty minutes. Not to mention she was having trouble in the background on the other end, something about a snake getting loose, which she found about five minutes ago. Another voice that sounded a little more distant than Jane's spoke up from behind her. Jane was heard arguing back, something about playing around on the job. The woman she was arguing with told her to get off the computer, before screaming and running away. Jane sniggered, turning back to the phone, "Sorry about that, boss was yelling at me."

"What'd you do to her?"

"Well I'm still holding that Burmese Python so… I kinda shoved it in her face."

Randall shook his head, going through a few more cabinets. He was growing frustrated, and was so hungry he didn't think he'd be able to walk around much longer.

"So what now?" Jane asked, pressing keys on the computer. Oh yeah, he forgot. The last thing she did was restart the internet and open up a web browser, which was now connected to the internet from his world. Randall closed his eyes and thought, rubbing his temples like the action would help increase his thought process.

The last thirty minutes, not including the twenty they had been waiting on the website to load consisted of him and Jane arguing about her computer's layout. Eventually she found the computer's internet options and did as Randall had told her, occasionally becoming confused. Their computers weren't all that different, much to Randall's relief. But it could be because their worlds were for the most part identical. The dominant species was just a little…different.

"Okay, what website are you on?"

"Your equivalent to MSN… only with weird things on it."

What the hell is MSN? Randall growled, turning from the pantry for a split second to glare at the phone, "Well it should say what it's called!"

"Okay, maybe not MSN. It says something about Chanel Thirteen… oh yeah, you said you guys have TV too. God, that guy looks scary," she said that last part more or less to herself, but Randall heard it. He sighed, and returned back to the pantry, then cried out in relief.

"Hey, what's the place that collects screams called?"

"Monsters Incorporated. Why?"

"It's all over your news."

Randall paused, listening for what she had to say next. She didn't say anything after that though. It occurred to the monster that she was reading what was on the site. Randall paled a little, wondering what she'd do if she found out he kidnapped a kid. He busied himself in attempt to ignore this thought and tried opening the bag of chips. Yeah, it was unhealthy, and probably tasted different, but they looked pretty identical to the ones back home. After a minute or two struggling with the bag, Randall resorted to biting it open with his teeth. His mouth was big enough to almost swallow half the bag, pressing down lightly with his teeth to penetrate the plastic. He paused when Jane started reading out loud into the phone.

"Monsters Incorporated is currently being shut down due to conspiracies within the factory. CEO Henry J. Waternoose has been arrested for committing crimes of kidnapping, attempted murder, and illegal banishment. Some monsters have yet to be found, and most of the staff is now unemployed. Unfortunately, this also means that no more screams will be harnessed in the future to prevent power outages. This scream shortage may not come to an end.

"On the brighter side, former scarer James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski have come up with a plan. They say that there is a way to collect more energy, and they will be working on bringing Monsters Inc back on its claws. If all goes well, M.I. will hopefully be up and running within a month."

The bag Randall still had in his mouth popped when he bit down on it, and spat out the remaining plastic and chips. Sullivan? Sullivan is going to reopen Monsters Incorporated? He was going to be the new CEO, which was where Randall belonged, not that overgrown fuzz ball!

He let out a loud audible yell, slamming the pantry shut. No doors were going to be activated for another month. He was stuck in this hell hole! Oh, when he gets back there, he is finishing the job. Until then, one thought just couldn't leave his mind.

"I'm going to be stuck here for a _month_?"

* * *

**_A/N:_** Next chapter will probably be a time-jump past the month, mainly because the initial plot kinda starts where the movie left off. Yeah, I know, it's more than likely a year later in the movie when Boo's door is repaired, but I'm going to have to try to make a month work since there's no real set time as to when Mike finishes her door. Any questions? Feel free to ask! =)


	4. Stars

**_A/N:_** Okay, I lied. There's not a time jump. I don't have the skill to write out the course of a month within a few paragraphs without adding a few ideas and scenes that might have happened once or twice during Randall's sentence to the human world. Unfortunately, though, we don't see anything happening in Monstropolis in this chapter either. It's basically an overview of what took place during his month that he thought was going to be so awful. I tried making it as awkward as I could at some parts, because we all know that living with the opposite sex can be so.

So sorry for the late-ish update. This chapter was such a pain to write because of my nervousness due to things like the state testing which is coming up... I hope you guys forgive me... I hate testing... I especially hate studying. Never been good at it!

Also, I'd like to thank the reviewers I have so far! I'm sorry I never replied to them sooner but it's better to reply to them at the beginning of chapters anyway. That makes me feels specials. =)

**Anonymous Echo** - I'm really glad you like the characters so far. Jane was hard to make up at some points. She's not based off of myself or anyone else I know, because I certainly wouldn't react to Randall's attitude the way she had. Also, really glad you said that last part about him being stuck there for a month being interesting. It's what mainly got me thinking that I should add more details about the month itself. Of course, it isn't _everything_ that they'd have to suffer through together but it's the start, and it needed more credit than I was originally giving it.

**sarrrrrrrrrah ** - Woo! First anonymous review! Those have been enabled btw, for those who've only been following. Thank you for your review! It got me off my lazy butt when I wasn't trying to study. =D

You guys are great, and I hope to keep you as reviewers throughout the rest of this story!

**_Disclaimer_:** Yeah, yeah, I'm on it... look, it's eleven-thirty at night, I'm tired, and I'm just going to go to sleep and _dream_ that I own the characters of Monster's Inc. Unfortunately, as we all do, I really don't own them. I know it's a pretty half-assed disclaimer but... sorry guys, I'm beat. :/

* * *

"What's that?"

"A mouse."

"…Why?"

"I'm hungry," Jane shrugged, walking through the foyer without so much as a glance at Randall. He grumbled, knowing fully well that he was visible at the moment, meaning she could see him. If anything he just _hated_ being ignored. The reptilian monster trudged behind the girl, already in a down mood to begin with anyway. Just a few hours prior, he found out that he'd be stuck in this place for a month.

"I'm hungry, too," he said finally, before bumping into her back. Randall didn't see her stop, nor did he notice in time to stop himself from hitting her. He was taller than her by a head(maybe a head and a half) which caused Jane to stumble forward from the impact.

"What… did you do… to my kitchen?" she asked quietly. Randall hadn't pulled away from her enough to see her expression. Actually, he didn't see much past the long, light red hair that smelled… oddly delicious. Randall groaned and eventually pulled away, remembering how awful scents similar to this were. The realization that he had started finding these smells appealing was worse.

And the thought of him being here any longer didn't help any.

Jane turned around to face him fully now, grey eyes about three shades darker than they normally were. Her nose wrinkled in response to the nasty sneer she was giving him. Before he could even process it though, her shoulders fell, along with the angry expression on her face. Now she just looked sad. He felt somewhat accomplished by this. Maybe she could find a way to get him home faster just so she could get rid of him. If that was possible then it was worth a shot.

Randall returned her soft, sad expression with a toothy grin of his own. She rolled her eyes and crossed the kitchen, heading for the stairs. His grin fell, noticing she still held the bag which contained the mouse. Was she really going to eat that thing? He supposed he was curious enough. Randall caught up with Jane in one quick movement, tagging along at her pace.

Down the hall he couldn't help but notice something.

Human houses, and even in Monster's homes, there were pictures hanging on at least one wall which consisted of a family.

Jane's walls were bare. There was no indication that she even had distant relatives.

He pondered this for another moment before she turned left into a room almost as large as the living room. It was pretty humid in this one room too, he noticed. Randall tried to swallow when he felt that his throat was suddenly dry, but didn't stop to wait at the door way. Jane's voice broke the silence.

"She's a reptile, too. So you two should get along," she smiled over her shoulder at him, setting the paper bag on a dresser, next to a twenty gallon tank with a heat lamp on it. It didn't comfort him any to see that she also had a tool box holding the lid down, preventing any sort of escape.

Brown sand served as bedding, a layer that had to be a good five inches thick. Jane removed the top and dug through the sand, pulling out a two and a half foot long snake.

"Say hello to Snickers!"

* * *

Week One

Very quiet after Jane had gotten past the destruction of her house due to Randall's anger. After much persuasion on her part though, she finally got him to eat something she cooked herself. He wouldn't admit it, but it wasn't half bad. She was a decent cook… when it came to Mac and Cheese. Surprisingly, it wasn't that different from the noodles and pasta back in Monstropolis.

He did find that Jane had no television, which sucked. How the hell was he supposed to entertain himself while she was gone all day? Given he preferred the empty house to the girl's presence, but seriously! The dog didn't like him much, the cat attacked him every time he moved, and that _bird_ flies at him when he's not looking! The only animal he took a liking to was Snickers, and that's because all the snake did was burrow under its sand. Randall had eventually settled for going outside, since he needed the exercise anyway. Still couldn't move his arm much, though.

On the days that she didn't have to go to work, Jane would clean the house. She'd scoop the litter box, sand the Sand Boa's tank, change the bird's food and water. And yes, scrub the couch. It took hours of shampooing to get the mud and grime out of the fabric, only for it to become dirty again when Randall would come inside and lounge. She screamed when she noticed her job-well-done on the couch had gone to waste. As a result, Jane had snuck up on the giant lizard with a bucket full of soap and a scrub brush. The cleaning only lasted five minutes since that was how long it took for him to throw her off for good. Despite this fact, he was still cleaner than he had been before, and no longer dirtied up the couch every time he was on it.

Week Two

Spring Break was over, which meant back to school for Jane. She woke up late on the first day and scattered around the house with her pants barely on, her shirt on backwards, her socks hanging off her feet, and a slice of toast clamped between her teeth. Randall watched bemused, his eyesight following her frame from one end of the kitchen to the other, then up the stairs and back down again.

This routine repeated itself every morning.

"Are you always late?" Randall groggily mumbled, stumbling into the kitchen while rubbing his eye. Jane buzzed by with a cup of coffee in hand, stopping for a second to acknowledge the creature with a frightened look. She did that sometimes; guess she wasn't used to him being around yet. She set the mug down and started the process of pulling her hair back in a pony tail, leaving her bangs down.

"No, but I get pretty close," she replied, tying her hair in place. The lizard-monster picked up the mug she had set down, and started drinking what was left of it. Better than nothing, he figured. The coffee woke him up a little more, and now being somewhat focused, Randall got a better glimpse of the girl. "Trying something new today?" he inquired, squinting his eyes like it would help his vision any.

"Uhm… no? Why?" Jane replied, speed walking past him towards the door, keys in hand along with her book bag.

"Ah, no reason," Randall shrugged, taking another sip, "I thought humans normally wore pants is all."

Jane looked down, rather confused, and screamed in horror. She had no pants on! All of her items crashed to the floor save for her backpack which was now a shield.

"Don't look!" she cried, embarrassed now that he saw her underwear. It took all of his self control not to spill coffee out his nose laughing. Randall snorted and set the mug on the nearest counter, giving her an evil grin.

"So… purple, huh?"

"Shut up!"

"Was that handcuffs I saw printed on the front?"

"I said shut up!"

He laughed out loud, holding his sides with every arm save for his still injured one. Jane's face was about as red as her hair when she let out a frustrated yell and ran in the direction of the laundry room, hoping she had pants in there.

Karma bit him in the ass for that later.

When Jane returned home that night she avoided him to the best of her ability. She didn't even make eye contact with him, and only shared a small 'uh huh' when he asked for her to grab more chips. She didn't.

Randall was bored, going through what movies he had and finding very little interest in any of them. God, he needed something to do. Too dark outside to go out now, there'd be no point trying to sunbathe in the moon. He clicked his tongue, deciding that if he couldn't get some exercise outside then he might as well do it in here. Randall stood in an offensive position, flexing his fingers some before allowing his scales to change color.

He started off with simple colors, like purple, green, and red. Then started doing some patterns, like stripes, polka-dots, and even the brick pattern. Eventually, when he felt all stretched out as far as his ability went, Randall blended with his current surroundings in order to go 'invisible' as some would call it. Man it felt good to blend again, he couldn't remember the last time he'd done this.

Oh yeah, right before he was grazed by Jane's bullet…

Not a fond memory.

Back to practice. Randall began pacing areas of the house and exploring some, trying to see how well he could keep up with the changing of surroundings. Eventually he reached the hallway with Jane's room. He considered snooping while walking passed the occupied bathroom without much thought as to what she might have been doing inside. When Randall thought better of it, he turned around to leave when the bathroom door slammed open.

Jane crossed the hall in nothing but a rather small towel which she could barely fit around herself fully. She was grumbling something about needing to do laundry later when she opened the hall closet to find only one large towel was left. A frustrated sound came from her throat, and she turned on her heel to return to the bathroom, leaving an invisible Randall standing there.

The site was enough to knock him straight out of invisibility soon as the door closed behind her. He didn't move for a little while, trying to piece together that he had just seen her in a more vulnerable state than she was in just her underwear.

It was Randall's turn to avoid Jane.

So. Freaking. Awkward.

Week Three wasn't much better.

Okay, so it turns out the laptop isn't Jane's.

Actually, it belonged to 'Kate,' who's supposedly one of her co-workers. Jane was allowed to borrow her lap top for Spring break so the girl would never get bored, and she just procrastinated in bringing it back. She also borrows movies from her all the time, which made no sense to Randall since she had a lot of movies sitting in her living room. Either way, he couldn't check any of the progress on the reopening of Monsters Inc… which just made him want to kill Sullivan and Wazowski all the more.

_Damn them_, he thought, slamming the cabinet shut. He heard a light squeal from the other room coming from Jane, almost sounding distressed. Randall camouflaged himself, wondering if someone had broken in. He didn't want to be seen, but he was curious as to why she was screaming. He slithered to the living room, still keeping himself out of site, to see that she was… playing with the cat.

Jane was on her back holding the cat up with her feet while playing with its paws. Twitch, it's name that he had learned sometime last week, swatted at her and would sometimes bite her, which was when she'd squeal. But he wasn't biting hard, he could see that from here. Still, the site of it was so… childish. The girl had to be… what… early twenties? Twenty-one at least? And she was playing with her cat like a seven-year-old would, giggling like mad.

Wasn't the first time she had done this, but it was never so infantile like it was now. Sure, she'd chase the dog around the yard, dance with the snake while listening to her iPod(which was also a touch-screen), and argue with the bird for no other reason than to be bored; the list was quite endless. Randall never paid much mind to it, being more or less interested in how a lot of her electricity was just given to her without scream. He tried asking her how it worked once, she shrugged and said, "I'd call my dad, but I haven't heard from him since I was fifteen."

She wasn't always so playful, though. On Saturday, she was off work, and it was raining outside. Jane had no clue Randall had stood there and watched her softly hit her forehead against the glass of the window, grumbling about the lightning. If there wasn't the risk of being fried to death, she'd be out there having a ball. Randall couldn't say the same thing. He wanted to stay _dry_, and would much rather stay clean so that Jane wouldn't sneak up on him like that again. She _had_ to have had an older brother, otherwise it wouldn't take so long for him to throw her off.

One thing that bugged him…

Over the course of the month, he had learned a lot about Jane alone, and human behavior as well. He wasn't surprised to see how similar life here was. She had to go to work, to put up with stupid people Randall would probably kill on the spot, got paid, and spent that money on things like bills, groceries, food; all of which caused a twinge of suspicion and confusion somewhere in his gut. Mostly confusion.

How in the world could Jane have a job that pays just a little above minimum wage, only have two days off out of the week(which change frequently), and afford this mini-mansion in the middle of nowhere? The bills _have_ to be expensive! Not to mention there's food, and other needs that she takes care of. Jane complains about Gas sometimes, too, which is how they fuel their cars; she's not good at explaining things. Not to mention that she still went to _college_!

All in all, it was fishy. He didn't know how well he could trust her. And he had a good hunch that Jane was thinking the same thing.

* * *

Stars.

They were bright, and pretty, and all over the place.

Every time she looked up, all she would see is stars. It was like a never ending blanket of glitter that didn't shine as obnoxiously as the kind preteens put in their makeup nowadays. Jane didn't wear makeup until she was starting to get self-conscious about boys… which was around the age of fourteen. Still, she saw it a lot in Missouri before her dad had gotten it in his head to move farther down south, where it was quieter.

Jane's neck started to hurt from looking up for so long. She paused her iPod and pulled out an earbud, listening to the sounds of the forests coming alive at night. Taking a step-which as more like a leap-off the front porch, she flexed her toes to feel the soft grass beneath her feet. She walked with a bit of a bounce in her step until she was standing next to a lump of scaly flesh on the ground, laying on its back and staring skyward like she had just moments ago.

He looked like he'd never seen stars before, sometimes.

"Still can't get enough of 'em?" she asked, taking a seat beside him and flipping through her library, trying to pick a song.

"Ever been to a city?"

Jane nodded, recalling nights she'd spent in St. Louis. So maybe he hadn't seen stars before… if their cities were just as similar as hers. She could hardly see _any _stars past the thousands of lights that shone all night. Sometimes it was frustrating on the nights where there wasn't a cloud in the sky; hell, finding the _moon_ was hard sometimes! Jane understood what it was like. She remembered seeing stars like this for the first time too. Of course, the only other person who appreciated them as much as she did was her mother, whom Jane never got along with well in the first place.

"I was born in one. Moved down here when I was… um… twelve, I think."

She heard him grunt a small reply, not soft but not real hostile like it normally was either. When she found a song she liked enough, she hit play and fell back on the blanket of grass beneath her.

"So why are you in the human world?" she asked. Randall was a little taken aback by the bluntness in her question, which was also very sudden. He glanced over at her to see that she was still gazing skyward. There was maybe a two-foot distance between them, he noticed. He lengthened it another foot by scooting away from her some. Jane didn't mind.

Randall had no answer at first, either. If he told her the truth then… maybe she'd judge him wrong like all the others had? She wouldn't look past the fact that he did indeed kidnap a kid(there was no way getting around that), and not think about the things he had been through at the time. This past month was the fist time he'd slept more than four hours in almost _two years_. The bags were almost gone from under his eyes, he was hardly gaining any weight back, and he wasn't use to not being productive.

And he still had no clue to say.

Jane wasn't going to trust him, and Randall wasn't going to trust her to trust him. He just couldn't, not after being illegally banished by the _one _monster who ever stood in his way. Or being betrayed by Waternoose so that the crustacean could gain his own personal wealth off of _Randall's_ machine that _he_ slaved over for _two whole years_!

Therefore, he couldn't tell her the truth.

"We were having an energy crisis, which I tried to solve. A co-worker of mine didn't like my idea so he illegally banished me. No one knows where I am. Even my family."

That last sentence struck a chord. Jane's breathing hitched in her throat. _So he _does _have family_, she thought. Her lips pressed into a thin line and her eyebrows knitted together, concentrating on the music she could barely hear through her headphones. That just gave her even more reason to send him back.

Of course, Randall didn't have any family, but it wasn't like she was going with him to Monstropolis to meet them! He would have snickered out loud at the idea of an adult human getting lost in the city. They were all terrified of a two-year-old. Who knows what kind of chaos Jane could enable by just looking at someone funny. He could picture it now; her sad look of confusion when he realize he had lied to her, standing in a crowd of monsters that discriminated her for being… her.

It'd be nice to see someone else stand around in his claws for a change.

But she wasn't going with him. No way.

While he was laughing inward at his thoughts, Jane was trying hard not to feel so guilty.

He had family…

He needed to go home.

She never knew what it was like to have family you actually _want_ around, but Jane wouldn't think twice about keeping Randall from his family for so long. They probably thought he was dead. She needed Kate's laptop in order to check that… weird website-thingy he did with her computer(that's the best way she could describe it). After a few more moments of trying to work out a solution, she said something to try to comfort whatever he was feeling. Loss of his family, friends, anyone.

Little did she know he was making fun of her in his own thoughts.

"I'll help you get back to see your family. You can bet on it, I'll be as helpful as I can be for you. No strings attached."

The monster looked over at the human next to him, that appeared so much smaller than she really was sometimes. Jane cracked a smile at his bewildered expression, gawking at her like she had grown two more heads. Before she smiled any brighter, she shifted her gaze back up at the stars. They were like a scapegoat now, any time she wanted to look away that's where her eyes would avert.

Still smiling, she cast him another glance to see that he'd returned to gazing upward as she had.

"Why?" she heard him murmur, barely audible under the sound of soft music and leaves hissing in the distance.

"Because that's what we humans do. We're not all that bad, you know…"

"Neither are us Monsters, but you guys insist on trying to shove your noses into our business," Randall defended a little, and started listing off some, "Sasquatch, Abominable Snow Man, the Loch Ness Monster-"

"No way!" Jane exclaimed, sitting up. Her eyes were wide with fascination, which almost made him chuckle. He caught himself before he could and mustered enough anger to glower at her convincingly.

"Yeah," he said coolly, honestly a little miffed that she had interrupted him. Why was she even out here with him anyway?

"That's cool," she sighed, laying back down now and humming to the song playing on her iPod. Jane almost started singing out loud if it wasn't for the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat. She glanced at him a little warily, wondering if he was going to say anything else to try to cut her down. Instead… he thanked her?

"Thanks… for wanting to return me to my family," Randall murmured, staring straight at the biggest object in the sky: the moon. It wasn't going soft, he had to convince himself that much. He had an honest reason to be thankful. Jane believed his lie, much to his luck, and even wanted to take him back to his so called 'family'. Even though he hardly had any friends, he had to admit to being a little touched by her commitment. Too bad she's just a little pawn in his plan but… he didn't want _everyone_ to remember him as a complete dick. At least someone should know that he could be a _little_ nice… right?

"Hey, what are friends for?"

Randall's eyes widened, glancing at her again like she had grown _three_ heads. Jane was smiling, but not looking at him. She was staring at the moon too, nodding a little to the current beat in her head.

Friend… he actually had one? A little self-proclaimed, wasn't it? He remembered that he only had a week left here in the human world anyway. And anyone capable of helping him and not screwing up(Fungus) could be considered a friend, he guessed.

Randall softly agreed, albeit he was still a little beside himself.

"Yeah…"

* * *

**_A/N:_** No, he's not going soft yet! Nowhere near soft. Not even close to starting to get soft! I just figured... Randall's smart enough to be thankful for what he's got, especially since he hadn't had things that most people take for granted. A good night's sleep, for instance, or a vacation from work, or even a day off... He'd been working on that machine for two years straight, guy's gonna appreciate a break when he gets it, right?

As for him fibbing I figured it pretty much spoke for itself there. If not, or if you have any questions at all that you don't want to publicize through a review, feel free to PM me!

Thanks for reading!


	5. Crayons and Steel Boxes

**_A/N:_** Well I had this sitting on my computer, unedited, since Saturday, and was going to finish it and post it on Easter but it just... it just didn't work out that way. Monday was just as busy too, guys, I'm so sorry. You're all lucky my priorities are screwed up through, because my state testing is tomorrow and I honestly should have been studying for that instead editing this... twice...

Happy Belated Easter, guys, and so sorry it was so late! Unfortunately there will be no Randall and Jane in this chapter(I hope to god you all still read it anyway though...). It's only fair, I mean, there's been a lot of chapters that have been centered around them anyway... poor Mike and Sulley hadn't had a lot of spotlight and we know Mike is just DIEING for it. Oh! And there's a LOT of anonymous reviews, and I am LOVING all of this attention! I don't wanna keep you guys waiting for the story to start though, so all review replies will be at the bottom. So without further ado...!

P.S. The parts where it's Boo's point of view describe some things a little funny. I only ask to keep that in mind because she's like, two, and it will seem very confusing at one point or another. Let me know how I did on it, please? Love you guys!

**_Disclaimer:_** The best Easter present in the world would be to own these guys for a day. A DAY. Because I don't own them at all and if I did I'd take these guys to Disney World and make Mike ride rides he's too short for... because he's kinda too short for nearly all of them. Jane and friends would be happy to come but because I already own them they're not allowed to go. Sorry guys, I've already taken you to Six Flags... even though it's nothing compared to Walt Disney's Kingdom. So sadly, I will never own ANY of the characters of M.I... EVER... =(

* * *

Despite 'Boo' not being her real name, the little girl wouldn't answer to anything else. Ever since she met Kitty, she just wasn't the same. First off, she was harder to scare. The minute she said bye-bye to her mom at the daycare, Michel and Dylan can't play a dirty trick to make her scream. Instead, she'd roar right back at the twins, scaring the two out of their overalls. Though she was still a little unsure about the large blocks mom puts her clothes in when they're muddy(They also spit them out when they're clean. Guess they like dirt…). They make a lot of noise, and shake a bunch too if she doesn't feed them enough clothes. But that was besides the point.

After Kitty had left, she made it a point to check her closet frequently, and sometimes even leave it open. Unfortunately, every time she did look, her clothes would be staring right back at her. The girl's eyebrows knitted together when she saw this again for the fifth time today. It had been about a month since the defeat of Waternoose and Randall, or as Boo would put it, the Big Scary Meanies. She didn't even see how they had defeated anyone. Half the time all she saw was Mikewazowski screaming. He got angry a lot.

All in all, she missed it. She missed Kitty making her laugh, and his soft fur which was very easy to fall asleep in. She missed the dress they made her…well okay, it wasn't really a dress but it was fun to play in. Boo also missed Mikewazowski, he was _really_ funny. She giggled out loud at the memory, of what he had said to her last.

"_Go ahead… Go grow up_._" _

She didn't know what it meant but it sounded pretty serious. Her mom was a grown up… maybe Boo would be just like her when she grows up too? Hiring snooty baby sitters that paid more attention to the next text message they got than to the girl herself. Boo had done a lot to get their attention, maybe even to make friends but all the girls would do was shrug and turn away, tapping more buttons on their phones. At one point she even tried drawing her own phone up to use but it got boring after pushing her twisted numbers(which really looked like big and little Xs) over and over again. Five was the hardest number to draw, by the way. She didn't like it. Stupid numbers.

Boo had moved from closing and opening her closet over and over again to coloring aimlessly on the floor. Every time she finished a new picture she'd throw it in a pile of pictures she had drawn previously, keeping them all together in an unorganized way. Every picture she had drawn since she got back were of Kitty, and Mikewazowski. Some even had the purple meanie, but he was always being scared by either herself or Kitty. Mikewazowski was too funny to be scary. She decided this after attempting to draw him scaring the purple meanie but it just didn't look right.

Just as she was finishing another picture of herself sitting on Kitty's shoulders, the door opened to reveal a woman in her mid-twenties. She nudged the door open with her foot while attempting to pull most of her long dark hair into a ponytail. Boo recognized her immediately and let out a loud yell of excitement, stepping on some crayons in a clumsy attempt to run to her mother.

"Mommy!"

The woman tried to reply but her mouth was currently biting down on a hair tie, which she eventually grabbed and tied around her hair. When she was sure her hair would stay, she gave the ponytail one final tug before bending over and picking up her daughter.

"Hey, sweetie! Mommy's going on her business trip to New York," the woman smiled, hugging her daughter close before turning around to face another adult whom had entered the room.

"Mom, are you sure you're okay with staying here?"

"I'm sure, dear. Lemme see my grandchild. Oh! You're getting so big!"

Grandma had curly gray hair that sort of reminded Boo of a sheep. She giggled, petting it with her hands before being held away from her at arms length. Her grandma always did this when she was gushing over how big she was getting. In all honesty though, she didn't grow that much since the last time she saw grandma.

Her mother pulled her back away from the older woman, giving Boo another hug.

"I'll be back in two weeks, sweetie. I promise. And thank you so much, mom."

"Don't mention it, Lauren! I'm looking forward to spending two weeks with my darling grandkid!" Grandma smiled, pinching Boo's cheeks. Boo's nose scrunched in distaste, rubbing her cheeks after the older woman let go. She was set back down to go play in her room, her mother closing the door behind her. Their voices were still heard through the doorway, her mother saying something about her not listening when her name is called.

Boo stuck her tongue out at the doorway and turned around to start coloring, but something was different when she turned around.

"Boo?"

Her closet door eased open, but not enough to see what was behind it. Even so, she recognized that voice. She smiled revealing all of her teeth, becoming so excited she thought she was going to explode.

"Kitty!"

* * *

Mike stood by the steel double-doors adjacent from the simulator, appreciating his handiwork. Given that said handiwork had given him over a million splinters, the look on his best friends face was worth it.

Call it what you want; a birthday present, house warming gift, whatever. Mike's way of seeing it was that he wanted to make it up to Sulley. There was no denying it, he wasn't a very good friend at one point or another. Did that mean it was entirely his fault? No! And he wasn't really going to change for the better either. But it wouldn't hurt to do a nice deed every now and then, right?

Just moments before did the big fur ball go through the door and close it behind him, leaving Mike outside waiting. Don't get him wrong, he wanted to see the kid too, but what they were doing is very illegal. Therefore, he had to stand by and keep watch in case anyone came looking for the CEO.

He leaned against the doors and picked at the many band-aids on his hands. Celia had one on her left tentacle, but then again she only helped with sorting through the pieces, not the actual making. Ah, Shmoopsie Poo… he needed to propose soon.

Mike's thoughts on what to propose with were interrupted by a knock on the door he was leaning against.

"Occupado!" Mike replied to whomever was ruining his attempt to be romantic.

"Wazowski."

Mike's eye shot open, knowing that nasally voice all too well. "Roz?" he asked, turning his attention from the splintered door.

"The simulator is never closed off when it is used. We have important matters to discuss with Mr. Sullivan," Roz replied from the other side. He didn't hear a single word she had spoken. Instead, he was scattering in a state of panic, running in circles before deciding what to do. He opened the simulator to see Sulley and Boo getting ready to have a tea party.

The girl looked surprisingly different saying as though it had only been a month since they'd seen her last. Her hair which had once been in pigtails was now down today, barely brushing her shoulders. A blue shirt very similar to the pink one they had met her in hung over a pair of green shorts, and pink plastic, glittery sandals were strapped on her feet.

The second she saw him she held her cup out to him, smiling in surprise, "Mikewazowski!"

Mike paused to look her over. He shook his head after taking in the changes, mainly the mismatching of her clothes. Back on track, he grabbed Sulley by the collar and started to pull him away from the fake tea party.

"Sorry kid, gotta go!" he waved, moving his feet as fast as he could. Sulley's cup slipped from his large claws when he was grabbed. He tried awkwardly to catch it but failed when he was actually _pulled_ by Mike towards the door.

"Whoah, hey, Mike! What's going on?" Sulley demanded, too dumbfounded to really pull back from his friend's grip. The little green monster was in too much of a panic to answer. Once the bigger of the two was finally past the threshold, Mike slammed the door shut, ignoring the small, barely audible '_thud_' that followed.

"Wazowski!" Roz drawled form the other side, patience gone from the sound of her voice. Sulley froze wide-eyed, and scurried to the door. Mike followed suit, turning around to make sure the light on the door was dead. Sure enough, it was, he just didn't remember pushing the button. Shrugging it off, the little green monster caught up with Sulley, whom opened the door and used most of his mass to refrain Roz from seeing past him.

"Sorry about that, Roz, Mike and I were fixing something," Sulley laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, "So what did you need?"

Roz blinked at him slowly, holding her hands behind her back. One hand came up to adjust her glasses before turning away and heading back down the hall, "We will discuss it in your office, Mr. Sullivan. It is a matter in which you… and Wazowski… are involved in."

Sulley frowned, looking behind him at Mike who shrugged, and followed Roz. Mike did the same, leaving the door to the simulator room ajar. Neither he or Sulley noticed the loose piece of wood (which used to be taped to the CEO's clipboard) had fallen out and was left stranded in front of Boo's door.

* * *

A red '95 Ford F350 pulled into a mobile home park, followed by a dark green '01 Ford Ranger with a mismatching navy blue camper shell. Both trucks moved towards the back of the park where less mobile homes were seen, one of which was a metal trailer that looked hardly big enough for a family of four. The bigger red truck pulled in the driveway close to said trailer, while the Ranger stayed parked on the road. Two men exited the smaller green truck, leaving their three dogs inside barking up a storm.

The boy from earlier hopped down from the passenger's side, pushing the seat forward to allow two dogs to jump out as well. Before the dogs got distracted enough to run away, he grabbed them by their collars and dragged them towards the small area behind the trailer. He hooked them up to their designated chains and changed their water before returning to the truck to help his dad.

"Where'd Jim an' Rick go?" his father inquired when the other two men approached him.

"Their dogs got car sick, so they went straight home. Said they'd bring you back your campin' supplies tomorrah."

The boy was by his dad's side, watching the other two mens' dogs while they cried and howled, wishing to be outside of the truck. He looked back up at his dad who nodded in reply and reached into the bed for his rifles.

"We'll be going back there soon anyway," he replied, heading toward the trailer, "So tell 'em to keep 'em til then. That bitch ain't gettin' far with our _gator_."

"How we gonna know she didn't sell it yet?" one of them asked.

"Leave that to me," the boys father said before entering the trailer. Both men looked at each other and shrugged, climbing back into the Ranger and leaving. As soon as they turned around and left, another truck drifted around the corner, speeding in their direction.

The boy frowned at the sight of the truck, backing to a safe distance away from the driveway. The Toyota Hilux didn't slow down, hitting the pot holes with little care causing the 'Pizza Planet' rocket at the top to jerk around, about to fall off. A white camper shell, which was in worse condition than the rusted trailer he lived in, wobbled on the bed of the faded yellow truck, almost ready to fall off itself. When it was close enough, the truck spun out, pulling into the drive with a screech before its driver killed the engine, letting the clutch out too soon.

"Hey, brat!" the teenage boy greeted the younger of the two with some malice in his tone. The boy stuck his tongue out, "Shut it, Jeremy!" he shot back, dodging a whap from his older brother. Jeremy's nose crinkled in distaste, his freckled face a little dusted from driving on dirt roads with the windows down.

"Watch it, Josh. Dun want daddy's little hunter ta have a boot stuck up his ass," Jeremy retorted, brushing past Josh. The kid narrowed his eyes at him as he followed, knowing Ma would have dinner ready for them.

"So how'd trackin' that gator go?" Jeremy asked his father, whom was in the process of dialing a number on their house phone. When their dad replied that some girl had took it, Jeremy slapped his knee laughing, only to be silenced by the menacing look he received from his old man. Ma came in from the kitchen, telling Jeremy to go wash up and then giving Josh a 'welcome home' hug.

Josh shoved his mother away, being a bit stubborn, and trudged into the kitchen to see what was for supper anyway. The boy wasn't surprised to see pizza sitting on the stove, probably leftovers from the previous night. It figures that he hadn't missed much since he and his father left to catch something, but it was normal when you went on weekly hunts for the sport.

Their dad hadn't gotten off the phone when Margret, his wife and the kid's mother, had called them all together for dinner. The small fold-up table in their makeshift kitchen was occupied by the three, with Josh and Jeremy sitting directly across from each other.

"So how does it feel to lose a whole gator to a girl?" Jeremy asked, giving his younger brother a nasty grin. Josh took a bite of his corn, remembering her. Heck, he'd only seen her two days ago, it was kinda hard to forget a girl about the age of his brother threatening a whole pack of hungers with a shot gun, albeit nervously.

"She was purdy," Josh shrugged, taking a bite of his reheated slice of pizza.

"That thing wasn't a gator anyway, Jeremy," Margret gave her brother and accusing glance.

"Yeah," Josh agreed, "Besides, any little lizard that crawls in here you think is a gator! Aint you a little old to be a sissy 'bout animals?"

Jeremy gave Josh the most menacing look he could muster, which sadly wasn't as scary as their fathers, "Well pardon me for not knowing the distinct differences between an iguana and a gator."

"Now both of you hush!" Margret cried, standing up from the table, "If you two don't knock it off Imma go get the shovel! And I'll let Pa do the honors of hittin' yas with it!"

Their 'Pa' heard this from the other room and snickered, confusing the person on the other line. When the phone was picked up there was a loud yawn, and low grumbles about getting called while sleeping.

"Hello?" the man finally asked.

"Hey, Frank," Pa greeted.

"Albert, how ya been pal?"

"I've been okay," Albert replied, trying to ignore the noise emerging from the kitchen, "But I aint callin' to catch up. Listen' I found somethin' that might be worth thousands, maybe millions, but I need you and your trackin' skills."

There was some shuffling heard from the other end.

"Guess your little business isn't pickin' up in Louisiana like it was in Arizona, huh?"

"No it's not-"

"Al, I haven't been trackin' for a while. It'll take a few days to get any of the team back together; if any of 'em are still alive anyways," Frank mumbled, trailing off on the last part. Al growled in frustration.

"Forget about that. Look, this little bitch stole it from me, an' if you can help me get it back than you can have whatever you want, from the valuables in her house to the girl herself."

A pause.

"…How old is she?" Frank asked.

"'Bout Jeremy's age, maybe a few years older," Al replied, smiling because he knew his friend's answer now that a girl was involved.

"All right. What do you want me ta do?"

"Find out if she still has it. She lives a few miles North-East of Tallulah, middle of nowhere so we don't gotta be careful about neighbors."

"Any physical traits?"

Al pressed his dirty fingertips to his temple, trying to remember. He pictured her standing before him, shotgun pointed at the ready. It was too dark to see most, only a few details like… "Copper colored hair, very long, down past her mid-back. Sorta built like a runner but not real tall."

"That's not a lot of information, Al. It'll take a bit to find 'er," Frank murmured, clicking his tongue.

"How many broads do we have runnin' around with hair as long as Rapunzel's?"

"All right, all right! I'll see what I can do!"

* * *

"Is there a problem, Roz?" Sulley asked, closing the door to his office behind Number 1 of the CDA.

"Yes and no," Roz drawled, standing next to the chair in front of his desk. Sulley sat in his bigger, custom made chair, ready for the worst possible news he could take. The large blue monster smiled nervously, knowing Mike and probably a few other monsters were holding cups against the door in order to ear the conversation he and Roz were having.

"I don't really have to ask for your permission, Mr. Sullivan, but I am obligated to inform you that the CDA will be sticking around the factory for a little while longer than we intended to during the reopening of Monster's Incorporated."

Sulley was a little taken aback. Did they not trust him to run this factory or something? He leaned his forearms onto his desk, giving Roz a look that told her to go on.

"The _illegal_ banishment of Randall Boggs has come up quite a few times during the conspiracy case dealing with Waternoose. Quite a few members of the court are worried that if he had in fact kidnapped a human child to experiment on here, that he'd be no less harmful to humans if he were to stay in their world."

He mouthed an 'oh', looking down at the current paperwork on his desk. He hadn't been reminded of Randall for quite some time, actually forgetting about his former co-worker. The blue monster's stomach twisted in guilt, now feeling bad about what he had done to Randall.

"You're right," the CEO murmured, looking back up at Roz while frowning, "We need to bring him back. But how are you planning to do this?"

"We will be bringing our own computer systems to sync in with yours, which will be tracking, and recording the use of doors here in the factory. If possible we'll try to find the door you had sent him through."

"Can you do that if the door was destroyed?"

"We don't need the door, just the information, like the location in which the door leads to," Roz droned, "So long as its file is still intact, I don't see much of a problem."

Her hand was on the door knob, ready to pull it open before she gave the blue monster a glance over her shoulder and added, "Oh, and we'll be starting on this tomorrow, Mr. Sullivan; just so you know."

As soon as she opened the door, Mike had fallen through with a cup in hand, also revealing a few other monsters who have been eavesdropping. They didn't stick around though, for the minute the door was open, they all bolted.

"Bring Randall back?" the little green monster exploded. Roz gave him a blank stare before nodding once and continuing to leave.

"Are you crazy?" Mike yelled again, with no effect on Roz. She left with Sulley catching _possibly_ a _hint_ of an amused smile on the sluggish monstress' lips before she disappeared.

"Are _you_ crazy?" he yelled at Sulley now, jumping onto the desk so he was in his friend's face. Sulley nodded.

"Mike, we need to bring him back. He was illegally banished. Besides, he'll be going to jail anyway. It's not like they'll bring him back and just let him free."

The smaller of the two still couldn't believe it. His eye was wide open, mouth partially agape, staring at his best friend since college, trying to figure him out like he didn't know him anymore. Deciding that yelling now would do no good, Mike turned around and jumped off the desk, yelling before he slammed the office door shut.

"You're all crazy!"

* * *

Boo watched with disappointment as Kitty left her again. She ran up to her closet the minute it closed, hoping they would still be there. Sadly, they weren't. It was just her closet again. The two-year-old huffed, crossed her arms, and stomped her foot, kicking her closet door shut and stomped stubbornly on a few crayons.

Within seconds she was over her temper tantrums and tried to leave her room, jumping so she could reach the doorknob. After about three jumps, she got it to open, and heard her mother's goodbyes from downstairs just as she walked out the door.

The little girl stopped on the steps, looking out into the living room to see her grandmother walking away from the front door, and immediately taking a seat on the couch to watch TV. Within seconds of sitting on the couch, grandma was asleep. The loud snores alone were enough to send Boo back to her room, reminding her of Kitty's scary growl.

She was pretty disappointed that her grandma didn't want to play either.

As soon as she reached her room, again, something was different. But this time she knew exactly what.

Her closet door was ajar, revealing concrete floors and red double doors in the background past the threshold. Boo squealed in delight. Kitty was back already! She made a beeline for her closet to greet her oversized friend, only to stop short at the shadow that loomed from behind her. The little girl turned around, thinking that it might have been Mikewazowski instead.

Rather than the angry green ball, it was a tall figure with six upper tentacles(three on each side), and a countless amount of tentacles for feet. It was pretty funny looking, she couldn't help but giggle. Boo attempted conversation, which came out as more gibberish. The new monster didn't seem fazed, staying in shadow. It almost looked orange, if she could even see it.

The dark, tall figure didn't move.

"Boo!" the little girl yelled, jumping and flexing her hands into claws for emphasis, but still the shadow was unmoving. It was then the little girl realized this wasn't a nice monster she should be playing with… but before the little girl could scream and dive for safety under her bed, she was trapped in a steel box. A cold, cramped, unfamiliar steel box with little holes at the top for breathing.

* * *

**_A/N:_** I know a lot of information on the characters is pretty vague, like Boo's name, but it's that way on purpose. You know, suspense and all. What Frank wants with Jane? Idunno, probably a maid to clean his testosterone filled house. I can just till this is going to take a little longer than I expected it to, with more chapters and everything. Oh! And if you guys would want a shorter chapter(because I know my long chapters are a pain in the ass but I love them that way) just ask. My updates take so long sometimes, I guess a shorter chapter here and then won't hurt, but it's up to my wonderful reviewers because I love you all so much! As promised, the review replies are all down here.

**_Lonelyfairy-_**I'm really glad you like the story! And you weren't a bother at all messaging me(I couldn't message back because it says your PMs are disabled), and I hope you don't mind me answering your question here. Don't feel stupid at all, either. My fifth grade teacher always told me that no question is a stupid one, so I kinda took it to heart with that... ANYWAY(I keep getting off track...) I guess you could say it was sort of both. He wanted to tug on her heart strings because I guess he figured that the more sincere he appeared to Jane, the more willing she'd be to help him(which was correct because she's naive), and because he could lie. She'd never go to Monstropolis to find out, so she'd never find out that he's really alone, so why not? I hope that answers your question. Thank you for your review and your question! =)

**_Oriana- _**Haha, I'm glad to hear that Jane's past is a bit suspenseful! Again, it is hard to write her sometimes, and all her past will be revealed eventually, just poco a poco(little by little). As for his lie... yeah, it probably will bite him in the butt; the only question is, is how hard. Thank you so much for your review!**_  
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**_TheOnePistol- _**Thank you! =)**_  
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**_TheShiz- _**Randall _is_ awesome! And glad you like Jane! Thank you for reviewing!**_  
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**_ClosetWerewolf808-_** I know right? Life would be so much better if stuff like this happened... -sighs dreamily- Hope you enjoyed this latest one! Thank you!

**_sarrrrrrrrrah - _**Hehe, yay! Second review from you! -hugs- Hope to keep you around to review!**_  
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**_YouSpinMeRightRound-_**Ugh, yes, Karma... what would a story be without it? Heheh, I hope I didn't keep you waiting long, and that you enjoyed this chapter too. Thanks!

**_Sparky- _**Hollywood Undead ftw! I listen to a lot of their songs for inspiration sometimes, glad you caught onto that! =) Thankyah!**_  
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**_mac-attack- _**The 'adventure' portion hadn't started much, yet, so unfortunately his feelings for Jane haven't changed much since the day they met, just more tolerable. As for being a good friend to her, it's the other way around. The reason I enjoy writing Randall with a character as childish as Jane's is because I can picture the relationship going through a struggle to develop, so there's more to it than that. But I'm glad you asked those questions! Because there will _start_ to bee some changes, very little ones, when it comes to his feelings for Jane. None strong enough for it to be a Romance yet but it's kinda getting there. =) Thanks for the review!**_  
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**_natasha- _**Thank you for the review! I'll try to be a bit less Edgy, I know my writing is that way sometimes... very sorry about that, but I'm glad you like it anyway! Hope you keep reading too!**_  
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**_BearsRUs- _**There's gonna be LOTS more! This story aint finished yet, and I'm seeing it through(Along with my other ones though it will take quite some time...) so stay tuned! Keeping Randall and Jane in character is a pain at times so thank you for the compliment! =D**_  
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**_Mambo-Like-Dis-_** Thank you! There's so many different ways that Celia is written and how she _could_ be written it was a little difficult how I wanted to write her at first... and I'm _still_ not so sure! Lol, so thank you again for acknowledging that, and I hope to see you review again soon as well.

**_charlette-_** Woo! Again, suspenseful! Really glad it's turning the way I hoped it would in some cases(like most of the details staying on the down-low). Hope you liked this chapter as well!

Okay, is that everyone? I think that was everyone... whew! I don't wanna miss anybody; everyone's getting a reply! Until next time...!


	6. Family Portrait

**_A/N:_** I'm so sorry for the long wait, guys! There's no excuse for me taking this long when testing only took two days. Just one more week of school and the only thing standing in my way will be work; meaning that I'll have a little more time to work on this story. I hope you guys are having a more relaxed Mother's Day than I am. Mine's been so busy but I at least had time to type up an author's note and post this chapter.

No, last chapter wasn't it when it came to the conflicts of this story. There's more! Also, here's where the description, which is a quote from 'The Dark Knight' comes into play. Both the name and the short description have a huge HUGE meaning on this story, but very different ones. I'll explain better in the end why I used them to symbolize this story, but maybe you guys can piece it together bit by bit 'til then. ;) _'Some men just want to watch the world burn.'_

I'm going to warn you guys, I've mainly been typing this from around one in the morning til' two, when I'm very tired. So this chapter may be... VERY cheesy and I'm very sorry, but I didn't want to keep anyone waiting, not even myself. So I did a few quick edits and hope it isn't as cheesy as I think it is but... it's probably still cheesy. Anyway, I'm going to get this show on the road. Again, review replies are at the bottom of this chapter.

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own. Too lazy to be creative today. Jane's mine. Randall's not. :'(

* * *

"Th-th-th-the Scream Extractor?" the short three eyed monster asked, hugging his clipboard like a child would a teddy bear. His orange-reddish skin began to sweat under pressure, the other monster's presence making him stammer nervously. The creature nodded, leaning back in his chair to look elsewhere. A huge overbite that revealed sharp fangs, dark green skin adorned with scars the smaller monster didn't want to know about, and spikes down his spine that reminded him some what of a dinosaur. The monster before him was, at one point, a former Scarer at M.I. that he would see passing in the hallway on the way to turn in paperwork. The guy was never a real friend, or even someone he really knew, just a 'Hi, how are you?' every now and then. The red monster pushed his glasses a little farther up his face, forcing himself to stop shaking though it only strained and exhausted his body more.

Fungus Simperton was never this nervous around Randall, though he may seem so at times. This monster, however, made him want to hide under a table. Sure, he was a nice guy as far as anyone knew just… really scary looking, which was why he was hired. Why he was never top Scarer was a wonder on its own. His dark green skin was faintly adorned with even darker stripes, which you could hardly see unless you really looked. Fungus spotted a few and stared at them intently, trying to convince himself that he was a nice guy after all.

Said nice guy broke his thoughts with the same question he had asked moments before.

"So what do you know about it?"

"That it was destroyed by Sullivan," Fungus replied, holding onto his voice better this time than last time. But the monster across from him shook his head. Fungus bit his lower lip, not knowing how his answer was wrong. The machine _was_ broken, wasn't it? God, this was too much. First off, he never would have expected to get a call from the guy to meet him here, at a local coffee shop, for a friendly _chat_. Now he was asking about the one thing the little red monster had spent a month trying to _forget_. Not to mention, how did he know about it anyway?

"It was… confiscated?" Fungus guessed again, only to get another head shake from the larger of the two. His crocodile-like face reminded him so much like Pete Ward, now a laugher at the new M.I., only this one was… well… meaner looking. Instead of three long claws, he had actual… _claws_. Like Sulley's almost, and about his size, too. A long, alligator-like tail twitched below the table, slightly brushing Fungus's bare foot. The monster stiffened, tightening his grip on his clipboard once more. Why did he bring this thing?

"Look, last time I saw it, Sulley broke it into four pieces saving that kid who caused so much trouble last month," he tried explaining, putting as much effort into saying the words as clearly as he could. The other chuckled, one that sounded a little too light for the subject he was bringing up.

"I found it in the lab you built it in, Fungie," he said more serious now, pointing a sharp claw at the monster, "Sullivan didn't touch it after the case was over, nor did the CDA. They took pictures for proof but didn't want to remove anything from the scene of the crime."

Fungus was a little dumbfounded by this. Of course it would still be there… Sulley wasn't renovating the building, he was creating a whole new _company_. Why in the world would he remember to finish off that machine while filing so much paperwork? And Number One of the CDA wouldn't leave it there if they thought someone would take it. The only people who knew about it were Fungus, Randall, and Waternoose. And Randall didn't tell anyone, he was hardly ever outside of work. He didn't even _talk_ to this guy, Fungus knew that much for sure.

"You built a good part of it, right?" the monster asked, playing with a cup of creamer set at their table. Fungus nodded.

"Yes, I did."

"And what did they promise _you_ in return?"

His three eyes lowered to the table, remembering when Randall first started working on the project. Waternoose even spoke with Fungus too, knowing that the two together could engineer something at the same time, no matter how long it took. He was promised a lot of things. Money, fame, _respect_(which was something he rarely got from anyone); all of those things Fungus didn't have before. Neither did Randall, though. He fell harder for this plan than Fungus ever could. The red monster bit his lip, "Respect."

"You didn't get any either, did you?"

Fungus shook his head sadly. No, he didn't. He's still treated a bit oddly, not even his new floor partner liked him that much.

The other monster smiled, showing more sharp teeth than what was revealed in his overbite.

"That's what I'm talking about. No one ever keeps their promises these days… let _me_ make _you_ a deal," he drawled, pulling Fungus's clipboard from his grip with ease. A pen that the smaller monster had brought was also taken from him by this monster as he took the current paperwork attached, and flipped it over.

"Lets say this is the Scream Extractor," he said, drawing a series of rectangles that… actually did resemble the Scream Extractor, drawn in the broken state he had remembered it, "Now let's say this is you," as he drew an oval with legs and three eyes.

"If you fix the scream extractor, with a few changes I had in mind, we can get you that respect you were promised before."

"H-h-how?" Fungus murmured, watching the pen glide along the paper with some confusion.

"Because it's fun," the monster replied simply, with a shrug, "Because I can. Because I know how to do it. Now, we're keeping this quiet, just like you did before. Only.. I'm a little more generous with time off, mainly because before we can even get to using this beautiful machine," he drew a heart around his doodled Scream Extractor, "there's a few things I need to take care of."

Fungus's eyebrows knitted together while he grimaced down at the paper, now a bunch of lines drawn between different objects, and several Funguses each with and without things he was promised when working for Randall and Waternoose. He had to admit, the idea was pretty promising, but what could he possibly do with an idea that wasn't original? The machine itself was obviously not ready to collect screams either; he had no idea how to fix that. But… maybe that's not what this guy had in mind…

"What are w-we gonna d-d-do with it?" he stammered, becoming more nervous now that he didn't have his clipboard to cling to.

"That," the monster grinned, "will explain itself later."

* * *

Jane cursed loudly and quickly pulled her hand away, sticking her finger in her mouth. She kicked the front tire of her truck with frustration as if it would fix her problem, wishing it would. She didn't know a lot about cars, especially when her own truck wouldn't start. The black '91 s10 shook some but not much under her frustrated blows to its tires, but she wasn't even trying to hit it that hard in the first place.

Randall watched this with some amusement from the garage door, visible physically but yet still not seen by the girl. After he was afraid she'd break the damn thing he cleared his throat, leaning against the door frame.

"What… are you doing?"

"My truck won't start," Jane said, finger still in her mouth, "and I burnt my finger."

"Poor baby's got a boo-boo?"

Jane rolled her eyes and stuck her finger out, the appendage only mere inches from Randall's face, "Yeah, wanna kiss it better for me?" she asked. Randall shoved her hand out of his face and eyed her truck, now curious. It didn't look all round, and had more than one seat in it, which was more than he could say for a monster's car. The reptile-like creature slithered over to the truck and poked his head underneath, trying to get a look at how the thing even worked. They don't use scream at all, so what _did_ they use? Randall ran his fingers down a few fuel lines from under the car, and eyed the transmission. Two-wheel-drive was all he could make of it so far, and he didn't even need to look closely to see that.

The monster slithered back in front of the truck in one smooth motion, startling Jane some. She muttered a 'How do you do that?' but he ignored it while starting at the engine. Definitely not like cars back home, but what did he expect? Everything was different(besides food… in some cases). But Randall _had_ worked on a machine for nearly two and a half years straight; he knew how to figure this out. He stared at the engine a few minutes longer before turning his gaze at the confused girl, who had been watching him with some interest.

"What happens when you try to start it?"

Jane opened her mouth to explain it, but her face went blank. She lowered her head and sped-walked for the driver's door. Once inside the truck she pushed the clutch and turned the key.

Randall didn't hear anything.

"Are you even turning the damn key?" he asked, growing frustrated with her just as he had with Fungus. Jane shot him an annoyed glare.

"I figured that'd be your first sign, genius. The engine's not cranking!"

She exited the car and slammed the door shut, rejoining the monster's side much to his displeasure. Randall leaned forward to leer over the engine of the car, staring at it intently. He heard Jane kick her heel on the small concrete pad where she normally parked her truck, muttering something under her breath. He caught some of it.

"If only I could call my dad he could…"

"Then why don't you do that?"

Jane looked up somewhat startled, losing her train of thought. She cocked her head as if she had forgotten all that she had just said, giving him a small, "What?"

"Why don't. You call. Your _daddy_. He can fix your problem so I don't have to help you," Randall sneered. Jane's face didn't grow angrier, only from confused to hurt, and from hurt to sad.

"My dad split a long time ago, Randall…"

* * *

Roz and her fellow CDA members set up their computers in the main conference room, figuring the CEO won't be needing it any time soon. Sulley watched all the monsters in yellow suits carrying wires, monitors, and computer towers while others used dollies to wheel in larger machines. He rubbed the back of his neck, catching an emotionless glance from Roz that made him a little nervous. The monstress slowly made her way to the bigger blue monster, giving a 'hold on a sec' to a member that was currently asking her a question.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Sullivan?" she drawled, position her glasses on her face. Sully shook his head no… then yes… before clearing his throat and trying to talk.

"Ah, well, no just… How long will you guys be here for this?"

"Who knows?" Roz shrugged, "Days, weeks, months; but don't worry. If we can't find Randall within three months time then we'll just give up. Hopefully where you sent him isn't any place dangerous."

"Okay," Sulley started, growing more serious now, "But I am CEO, and I would like you to let me know if you find anything. I'd like to help find him, if that's even possible."

Roz shrugged again, now turning away, "We'll let you know if anything comes up, Mr. Sullivan."

With that, he was ushered out of the conference room by other CDA members while they tried setting up shop, leaving the CEO standing outside of the room's doors just as nervous as he was when he entered. The large blue monster had a few more things to take care of throughout the day concerning Randall Boggs, one of which consisted of going to the monster's old apartment to see if the landlord still had any of Randall's stuff after deciding the apartment had been 'abandoned'. This was one of those things Sulley didn't want to do alone, but Mike still wasn't okay with Randall coming back at all.

"_If you ask me,"_ the little green monster pointed an accusing finger at his best friend, _"I think we should leave Randall in that dump. He tried to _kill_ us!"_

Like he had a choice though. Sulley understood that the purple monster was just going through a tough time. After finding out Waternoose's deal with the guy, Sulley felt bad for all the times Waternoose would stand there and praise Sulley in front of Randall, not giving the smaller monster any attention what-so-ever. Honestly, how could Mike not see that?

Sulley returned to his office, only to wish that he had gone elsewhere instead. Another stack of paperwork had been placed there, mainly stuff the bookkeeper should have filed. "_Temps_," Sulley shook his head, going through the folders on his desk, "They can't even do their job right," the monster groaned. He was getting too stressed out. Tossing the folders back onto his desk, Sullivan had decided that paperwork would have to wait. He needed something to loosen him up some, so maybe he'd go visit Boo. On his way to the simulator, Sulley was very careful to make sure that no other monsters had followed, or even spotted him. Upon reaching the large red double doors, he pulled out a set of keys and locked them behind himself, being sure that while he was inside no one would try to come in.

"Why didn't I do this with Mike yesterday?" he mumbled to himself, turning around to see the door was still in place. Every chip was in the door, leaving the monster a little relieved already. Sulley activated the closet and cautiously opened it.

"Hello? Boo?"

Nothing.

He peered around for another moment, noting that no one was there. Sulley scratched the top of his head, shrugging and closing the door behind him before turning it off.

"Must've gone somewhere with her family."

* * *

"Schauen Sie ihm zu!(1)"

"Sorry…!" Fungus murmured, idly stepping on some monsters tail before realizing he had just stepped on the most intimidating thing he'd ever seen. The large creature let out a low growl, giving off a high pitched hiss that reminded him of a snake.

"Ich sollte Sie töten, wo Sie stehen!(2)"

"Easy, Manny," the dark green monster that had accompanied Fungus at the coffee shop said soothingly. Said monster called himself Zack by the way… who in the right mind would name a monster like him Zack?

Manny was a very large, serpent-like but yet not monster. No arms or legs, or any appendages at all but had two heads. One head was inside the other, which was the head used for talking. The first head was mainly a mouth, no eyes, with a few sharp teeth but was also a cover for the second head, which had more fangs than Zack's overbite. The second head also had no eyes, but the creature was still capable of locating Fungus directly where he stood, flicking a long, black forked tongue to catch the _way_ smaller monster's scent. Not only was Manny so odd looking, he was also very, _very_ big. He probably stretched to be two or three stories long, if Fungus was brave enough to figure that out.

The snake-like monster's slimy green skin brushed Fungus' ankle, which happened to be the tip of Manny's long tail. Fungus gulped, feeling more sorry now that he hadn't been more careful.

"Ich werde Sie halb nächster Zeit einbrechen...(3)" Manny growled, retracting the second head just as the first's mouth closed. The snake, now appearing to have one head, slithered off into the far end of the abandoned apartment building, climbing two flights of stairs effortlessly.

"What did he say?"

"You know? I'm not sure," Zack smiled, opening a door to reveal stairs that lead to the basement of the apartment buildings. Fungus looked where the horrifying creature was last seen, paling a bit. Wasn't that German it was speaking? He was pretty sure it was German. And even after Zack had tried calming it, it still sounded pretty angry… in German. Fungus shuddered, pounding down the stairs to catch up with Zack. He felt safer with the dark green monster already.

"So… do we need Manny at all?" Fungus asked, hoping the answer was 'no'. Zack tilted his head in thought of this, eventually giving a shrug.

"He's just our security, really."

Our? How many monsters was Fungus going to be working with? No, that wasn't the right question. Why in the world would they need security? This is an abandoned apartment building… who in the right mind would want to break into here? The smaller monster had already asked so many questions on the way here, he was scared to get on Zack's nerves.

The basement was suspiciously roomy, almost like the secret lab he and Randall built to keep the Scream Extractor secret. There just wasn't as many pipes and things, just very roomy… with large crates filled with god knows what here and there. Fungus followed close behind the other monster, not wanting to lose him in the dark area. After weaving around crates they eventually came close to a cleared area, where the Scream Extractor lay in four pieces, waiting to be fixed. Standing next to it was Xavier Lombardo, another ex-scarer from the old M.I. Actually, he was a laugher now, too. What was he doing here?

"Fungus?"

"He's going to help us fix the machine," Zack nodded his head in Fungus's direction, "Did you do your assignment as told?"

Xavier nodded, curling his six arms up nervously, while the four used as legs twitched in an odd manner.

"It's in the back room," Xavier said, not making any eye contact with Fungus whatsoever, "Why… would we need it, though?"

"To make a deal," Zack drawled, then turned to Fungus, "Anyway, I only brought you here to show you where it is. You may come and go as you please but if I ever call to ask you to work on it, please don't make me wait. There's no deadline, but the sooner this is up and running, the better it is for all of us."

Fungus nodded, watching Xavier shift nervously in their presence, before turning to leave and follow Zack out.

* * *

"So… my starter is broken?"

"Yep."

"Would that be the little thing that tells the engine when I'm turning the key?"

"Yep."

"And that means I can't go anywhere without turning my truck on with a pair of pliers, which would take two people because it's stick…"

"Yep," Randall confirmed, again, for the third time. He pulled away from the engine and closed the hood before smacking the dust off all four of his hands. Jane's face hadn't changed since he had dared her to call her father, which turns out wasn't… here. She didn't say much, just that he didn't want to see her again when she turned seventeen. A week before her eighteenth birthday, even. What kind of father would do that? Given Randall didn't have any kids, and probably never will, he'd _never_ do that to his own flesh and blood. Sure, his parents stopped talking to him soon as he moved out, but at least he knew how to fend for himself at that point.

Besides that, she was a good listener when it came to grabbing him tools and being given directions while he was probing her truck, without much complaint. She wasn't nervous, always shaking from either fear or excitement, or asked that many questions besides the ones she had just now. Randall had to hand it to her, she wasn't too bad to keep arou-

_Oh-my-god-did-I-really-just-think-that?  
_

He gave her a sideways glance to make sure she didn't notice the physical affect his thought had on him. Unfortunately she did, and was staring at him like he was an idiot. Randall clenched his jaw tight, not knowing what to say as an excuse. He'd always been a good liar, only for some reason now he just couldn't think of anything good enough to feed to her.

Luckily he didn't have to say anything. Jane's phone began to ring, and before it could ring twice she answered.

"Hey, Kate, I found out what's wrong with it. What? Yeah, I'll be needing rides for a while but can you bring by your laptop tonight? I have to order the part to fix it."

Randall didn't know whether to stay out here or to go inside. It was only noon, he might as well sunbathe for a while before heading back inside. He gave another glance at the truck, frowning a little. He was definitely confused. While exploring her engine and even the fuel lines, Randall couldn't figure much about how the car ran, but he did figure out almost half of the physics it took for it to get moving.

"So she's bringing the laptop around three," Jane said just as she hung up, giving Randall another odd look, "Before we figure out what model to buy, you can check to see if your… portals or whatever are being activated."

Without another word Jane left, leaving Randall sitting outside. She always did that; disappeared without another word and he wouldn't see her for several hours. Wasn't she supposed to be making something up to him? The monster grew frustrated with hardly seeing her when she was up his butt the day he woke up. Had she completely forgotten he had existed or something?

"Allright," he growled, following suit. When he re-entered the house Jane was already halfway up the stairs. Randall blended with his surroundings in mid-step, quickly catching up to her. Up the stairs and down the hallway he noticed it again; the bare walls. It was almost eerie, if one were to describe it that way. Randall stopped when she entered her room.

This wasn't right.

What the hell was he doing?

Randall may call himself low enough to lie, and even admit to kidnapping a child, and trying to kill his co-worker; but he'd _never_ spy on anyone. Just because Jane was a human didn't take away the fact that she had rights too. He would smack himself if he was thinking this a month ago, but after seeing a bit more of her world(given through movies since he hasn't really left her house) he noticed there weren't too many differences morally. Things definitely worked differently, but it all meant the same thing. Jane had privacy, and she needed to keep it. Randall didn't want to worry about her anyway, the girl was the least of his problems. The monster slowly returned to his purple color once more and turned to leave.

Jane on the other hand had no clue she was being followed at all.

She pulled strands of hair from her face and tucked them behind her ear, ducking below her bed to pull out a box she hadn't touched in… a while.

_Just one look, to remind myself_, she thought, opening said box. Inside were framed pictures of all sizes, each of different members of her family. Jane's breath hitched in her throat when she saw one of everyone, including herself. The only one missing was her father but, this one was taken after the divorce. She had to be… what, fourteen? Definitely before mom met Greg.

Most of the family members in the pictures she hadn't heard from since her mom left. Aunts, uncles, cousins… grandma; all of whom that were present in the photo.

She pulled out another picture frame, debating. These use to hang on the walls… why did she even take them down in the first place? Jane considered re-hanging them, but then decided that it'd be too much. She pulled out four or five more, revealing pictures of her brother, mom, and dad when he was still part of the family. The sixth picture she pulled out was a family portrait of all four. Jane had to be about eight in this one, and Justin was around five.

She took a nap on her bed hugging that one.

* * *

**_A/N:_** Okay so Manny speaks German. I don't want to offend or confuse anyone who knows German so if I have I am very sorry! I'm using a very cruddy free translator so those who do know are probably like 'What?' because I have a friend who knows Spanish, and this same translator doesn't do Spanish well either. So to make things easier for everyone I numbered each of Manny's sentences so that I'd type out their English meaning down here. Also, if his description is a little odd, I did sort of base him off of the original Sandworm from Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Just green and more snakish... with no eyes. Hahah, anyway, here's the translations:

**_(1)- _**"Watch it!"**_  
_**

**_(2)- _**"I should kill you where you stand!"**_  
_**

**_(3)-_** "I will break you in half next time..."

Yeah, his translations are pretty vague as well as his lines but there's not much that I can make him say that will... translate accurately without sounding stupid. Anyway, as promised, review replies are down here!

**_Lonelyfairy- _**Thanks! I agree, Boo is too cute. I hope that if I have a girl, she'd turn out just as adorable. And thinks are just beginning. I'm getting more and more excited writing it out!**_  
_**

_**TheShiz-**_ Don't worry, Randall won't go down without a fight. And... Frank might have some pretty sick stuff in mind. o.o; I'll do my best to protect her! -Stands guard with a golf club- ... anyway, yeah, Boo getting kidnapped... again. Poor girl, she's going to have issues when she gets older if this keeps up... xD

_**ClosetWerewolf808-**_ What's a good M.I. fic if there's no Roz? She's pwnage! And you know what I can totally see Boo pulling off a serious karate stance now... haha, thanks for the review!

_**YouSpinMeRightRound-**_ I hope this ending won't be bitter either. And I also hope that you're a little more hooked, because the plotting and antagonist list has just expanded... a bit. There's definately more plot to this story than I should be giving, I'll admit that. And I'm glad you like my style and the length! Hope I didn't take too long to update.

_**BearsRUs-**_ Jane's a little far from Mama Odie, but she probably would call for her if she had the chance. Tallulah is pretty far up north from New Orleans, but I'm not sure just how close to the old Voodoo Witch she is... I'll do some more research on that. Thanks! =)

_**darkreflection-**_ Thankyou! ^-^

_**Oriana-**_ Mikewazowski! I love saying it too but it just sounds soo cute when Boo says it. Glad you loved the chapter and I hope your Easter was great as well!

_**sarrrrrrrrrah-**_ The tests were okay, and the chapters might as well stay long; they're funner that way. This chapter was going to be even longer to make up for the slowest update in the world but it's just going to have to be made up with the next chapter... Thank you again! =D

_**Mambo-Like-Dis-**_ Hehe, like waiting for the next issue of a comic. I get it, and I know I am slow, there's no getting around it. xD I'm really glad the long chapters are a nice pick-me-up, though, which is why they'll stay long and hopefully get longer as the story progresses. Thanks for the review!

I love you all, and I realize that it's like, 12:08 when I finished this A/N but, lets just say I beat it and it's still Mother's Day(for the sake of my pride) and hope you all had a wonderful day!


	7. And Another One Bites the Dust

**_A/N:_** O. M. G. Here it is, as promised! A LONGER chapter! It's almost twice as long as all my other ones. They're normally seven pages long, this one was fourteen pages long but... only by a sentence so lets go with thirteen. I didn't know how else to end the chapter without feeling like I'm dragging what would be a five second scene in a movie out to be something like forty seconds. So it's thirteen pages.

Glad you all liked the German Manny speaks! Which is a little funny to me because I know a kid in real life named Manny but he's actually Mexican. Go figure, right? I had no clue for a minute that I was naming a Giant Snake after him but oh well... on with the story!

**_Disclaimer:_** I'm done trying to be creative with these things. It's enough to write a story about creatures I don't even own! Not to mention making up characters and keeping them IC. So, as usual, I don't own Monsters Inc. but I do own Jane and... well... basically all of the humans involved. Enjoy!

* * *

The adrenaline coursing through her veins sent cold shivers down her spine. It was an amazing feeling; one she didn't want to end so soon. Her body was so numb the only thing she could feel was her heartbeat. Everyone around her walked up to the line, each one of them feeling the same adrenaline rush she was. She was the smallest one in the line, surrounded by taller peers who were just as worn, sweaty, and tired as she was.

Jane listened for the mark to get into a ready stance, the runners on either side of her following suit.

_What am I running for?_

The announcer kept rambling on about rivalries between two local schools, one of which she was currently racing for. The girl took a look around at familiar faces she had classes with. Some moved away some time after this race, some died, and some dropped out due to teen pregnancies. But she still had no clue how old she was right now, why she was running, or whether or not her parents were here. Right now, her main concern was running all one-hundred meters faster than everyone around her.

Up until now she couldn't hear the hushed whispers of the crowd as they waited for the starting gun. Slowly but surely she started to hear it all. And when the starting gun went off, the crowd was suddenly louder.

Within just a few seconds Jane was flying on her feet, leaving all the others in the dust. At first she was confused as to why she was so far ahead so quickly. One glance over her shoulder… and they were gone. None of them were there anymore.

Come to think of it, the crowd was gone too. She could still hear the cheering, but saw no one sitting in the bleachers. But she kept running.

_I'm not running for the school._

She was running to the beat of her heart, still audible over the cheering of the invisible crowd.

_I'm not running because I want to._

The numbness started to fade away. Her body began to hurt like hell, and her lungs stung with each intake of breath.

_I'm running for mom._

A hurtle appeared in front of her, which made no sense. Jane thought fast, and leapt over it as gracefully as she could, wondering why the hell there was a hurtle in a hundred meter dash?

_I'm running for dad._

Another hurtle, which confused her all the more. Jane couldn't clear this one; her foot got caught and despite how nasty the fall was, and how she rolled uncomfortably for about five feet, she didn't hurt as much as she thought she would. The exhausted girl heaved herself off the ground, staggering to her feet and slowly starting to run again. After a moment of light jogging she was back into her sprint.

_Last but never least, I'm running for Justin_.

Her younger brother that she was always second best to. Jane bit her tongue thinking, running, barely making out the three figures sitting alone in the bleachers now in silhouette. Just because she fought with him, didn't mean at all that she hated him. And it wasn't his fault, no matter how much she did blame him, that mom and dad had liked him better. They just wanted a boy, was all. And she mostly blamed herself for not being one.

Jane's body began to shut down. Her legs stopped moving as fast as they were, and her lungs felt like they were about to collapse. Senses feeling more pain than necessary, hitting her all at once. She tripped over herself and started to fall.

And then she woke up.

"Finally," she heard a familiar voice growl.

She opened her eyes slowly to see Randall hovering over her. His mouth opened as if he was about to say something but froze, fronds sticking straight up. Before she could question this, scale by scale he disappeared just as Kate appeared in the doorway.

"There you are, sleeping beauty!"

Her now medium-length auburn hair was a mess, sticking out at odd angles. Jane almost forgot that she had cut it about a week ago, otherwise she would have flipped and gushed over the new style all over again. The younger of the two sat up just as the other leaned tiredly against the doorframe.

"Sorry I'm such a mess," Kate sighed, "Ali kept me up all night."

"Why's that?"

"Long story, but anyway-"

"AUNTIE!"

A six-year-old with eyes as big as Kate's, only bluer, with short black hair darted past her mother and practically tackled Jane off the bed. Jane flailed and fell back into the cushions, the lethal child clinging to her neck giggling and screaming, "Guess what happened last night!"

"Not now, Ali," Jane choked, attempting to pull the child off her, "Your mommy and I were talking."

Ali didn't say much more, but wasn't letting go either. Jane eventually gave up with a huff and turned to Kate for help. Her friend laughed and called for her daughter, who finally let go soon as she was promised a kid's meal on the way home.

"Oh, and here's the laptop," Kate smiled, handing it over to her friend while Jane lead them to the kitchen. She murmured a thanks and took it with one hand, while rubbing her neck with the other.

"Kids got a grip…"

"You know it," Kate sighed, "I've got some news, by the way."

"Good or bad?"

Kate bit her lip and gave Jane a sideways glance. When Jane rose a questioning eyebrow she pulled a chunk of loose hair and tucked it behind her ear, as if trying to appear casual. It didn't work.

"Kate."

"Jeanie hired a new girl."

"Okay?"

"Her name's Kylie… Browning."

Jane nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact with Kate. Not good. Not good.

…Not good!

"So then Ryan's back," she thought to herself out loud. Damn it, Jeanie. She hired her on purpose. Just to piss off Jane, and Kate knew this too; which is why she was telling her.

"If she wanted me to quit she could have fired me. I don't want to know that he's back," Jane groaned, burying her hands in her face. Randall was curious, standing a few feet away but still camouflaged, taking a seat on the floor near where the girls stopped.

He noticed that the kid was staring right at him, even though he was invisible. Randall held his breath, hoping the little brat would look away, but she didn't. He was curious how she could see him… so he moved, to see if it was just coincidence. Nope, her gaze followed him, watching him like a hawk. Randall lowered on all eights, slowly nearing her, sniffing her like he could see what made her different.

Almost at the same time, she reached out to touch him. Randall froze, too scared of what might happen if he pulled away. Ali's hand brushed his chest, and when she pulled away it was covered in oil and grease from Jane's truck.

He looked down to see that his entire stomach was covered in it, and that it hadn't turned invisible with him. The monster sighed, backing away from the girl just as her mother gasped and pulled her up.

"What did you stick your hand in?" she cried, carrying her over to the sink. When Kate's back was turned, Jane looked around behind her. Randall knew she was looking for him.

He appeared when he heard the sink turn on. Her tense gaze relaxed some once she saw he was there, then hardened again. "What are you doing?" she whispered low enough for him to hear.

"The kid could see me while I was invisible!" he whispered back.

"Because you're _filthy_!"

Randall was about to argue back when Kate turned around. He was invisible almost instantly.

"Hey Jane, what was that stuff?"

Jane shrugged, and looked where Randall was standing just as Kate turned back around. When Randall reappeared, she grabbed him by his shoulders and shoved him out of the kitchen, whispering 'Go, go, go!'

He had to admit, he was pretty offended.

"Hey!"

"Go take a shower or something! Before I wash you myself!"

Randall rolled his eyes and gave her a low hiss, before disappearing and leaving their conversation for good. Jane mocked his hiss with one of her own, turning back into the kitchen to see a confused Kate, who was scrubbing Ali's hands clean. Ali looked a little bewildered for some reason, which Jane probably knew why.

"You okay?" Kate asked, receiving a nod from Jane. The younger of the two pulled out a drawer under the counter and handed her friend a towel, which Kate used to dry Ali's now squeaky clean palms.

"Look, I'm sure Jeanie didn't know that it was the same Kylie you use to be friends with. She hardly even knows the story, anyway."

"Good, I'd rather her not know," Jane crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. When Ali was free from her mother's torment she immediately spotted the cat walking through the kitchen and chased it elsewhere. The strawberry blonde giggled with some amusement before frowning again.

"I'm really sorry, Jane. I had no clue she even turned an application in," Kate sighed, leaning against the counter, "I feel terrible for not stopping it when I could've. I'm sure it's more Kylie than it is Jeanie anyway."

"Did you see her?"

"Yeah."

"Does she still dye her hair black?"

Kate's lips pursed in thought, "Yeah, she's got about three inches of her natural color growing it, so she hasn't done anything in a while."

Jane rolled her eyes. Great, just great. Ex-best friend slash boyfriend stealer comes back from her eloping honeymoon to rub it in her face. How fantastic will work get now?

"If I punch her, I'm so fired," Jane groaned, pulling her own hair.

Randall didn't hear any of this, though. He was doing as he was told, taking a shower. Not because she told him to! That was _not_ why! It was because he wanted to; and because he really was filthy. Actually he was so relaxed when settling into the hot water in the bath tub(a shower would have been too loud), he stayed there for maybe an hour, just soaking. No bubbles, no soap, no wash cloths; just straight hot water.

It not only felt good, but was extremely effective and helped him think a little more clearer.

And then he noticed something.

He had a freaking conscience towards Jane today.

_What the _hell_?_

He recalled himself pausing at the threshold of her doorway, perfectly capable of spying and invading the girl's privacy.

And he didn't. Not because he didn't feel like it, but because he was thinking of _her_ and her right to privacy. Randall lowered into the tub where his mouth had gone under, and the water was just below his eyes. His fronds were folded back, just as relaxed as the rest of his muscles were. And then he thought of it again, and then he was tense.

Why? _Why_ does this have to be so hard? Jane was practically more monster than half the people he knew and he _hated_ it. But at the same time was more relieved that it was her who got to him first instead of those hunters. And their _dogs_. He remembered getting bit on the tail, and lifted said appendage out of the water. There was still a slight kink at the tip where it had gotten him too. The monster growled under the water, sending bubbles to float to the surface from his mouth.

Just more anger to burn in his goal to take Sullivan down.

* * *

Frank was a twenty-eight year old ex-tracker for Al's little team of poachers. At first you could say he joined because he figured the business would take off once they raised enough money to go to Africa or Australia; turns out Rattlesnakes, Gila Monsters, Scorpions, and Tarantulas sold cheaper than the man thought. All the money used to move from Tennessee to Arizona went to waste. So Frank left their business as an animal tracker to become a tracker in general; but not in a cleaner way some may take it.

He ran a hand through his fiery red hair before replacing the hat back on his head, his eyes never leaving the red light in front of him. It had been a long, _long _drive from Kentucky(where his 'office' now resided) to Tallulah, and he was finally here. He had to hand it to Al, if it were anyone else who asked him to do this he would've told them to go kill themselves. Frank made a left when the light turned to a green arrow, pulling his 3500 Dodge Dually into a parking spot in front of a cheap motel, purposely taking up two spots.

First things first, a nice long nap. And after that, he'll try to go over what little information Al had provided for his gator thief.

Moments later(after the prissy old blue-hair at the counter gave him his damn room key) he was laying on his back staring at the ceiling, thinking to himself as he drifted off. Now how old was she again?

"'_Bout Jeremy's age, maybe a few years older."_

Jeremy's what… nineteen? So this girl was between nineteen and twenty; pretty young. Young enough, anyway. Perverted thoughts aside, he went over other details. Long copper-colored hair. This annoyed him; there were so many definitions of long he had no clue which would be correct. And copper would somewhat define strawberry blonde, wouldn't it? Girls dye their hair that color all the time nowadays.

Frank groaned and rolled over face down into the pillows. He was going to be looking for this girl for _days_.

* * *

Josh spent a whole exhaustingly bright day helping his dad out with equipment. The rest of the hunting group which consisted of four other men did the same thing, only at their own homes. Just because he was ten didn't mean he had no clue what was going on. But it wasn't until now that he realized his father wasn't going to be… very nice to this girl at all when he finds this gator. Okay, _alien_ since that's what everyone is convinced that it is now.

Jeremy's truck skid to a stop in front of the house.

"Home early or did you get fired for your crazy driving?" Josh huffed, attempting to walk around the yellow Hilux to reach the bed of Pa's truck hauling a camping bag. Jeremy slammed the door shut, opening the top to the camper shell to check whatever was in the bed.

"They wouldn't fire me for my drivin'. I always deliver on time!" the older boy scoffed, pulling out a box full of magazines. Josh couldn't help but stare at the 'YO' where 'TOYOTA' use to be on the back. He remembered helping his older brother pull off such a stunt; back when he was… what, six?

"What's in da box?" Josh asked, now curious and set the bag down to try to peek inside. Jeremy pulled the box out of his reach, sticking his tongue out while yelling, "Nuthin' you're old 'nuff to see!"

"I am too old enough, now lemme see!" Josh demanded, jumping for the box. His hand caught hold of a corner and he pulled it out of his brother's grasp, spilling its contents all over the driveway.

"Ewww!" Josh cried, immediately shielding his eyes. Naked girls! Really? Why? The boy still believed in cooties, for crying out loud! So… gross… "Yuck!"

"What, you tellin' me you like boys?" Jeremy flushed, scurrying on his knees to pick up the mess.

"That's so… Jeremy! I'm tellin'!" Josh gagged again, running for the house. Jeremy realized the possible danger of this and halted as soon as the threat was heard. The next thing he knew, the box was thrown completely to the ground and Josh was running for his life.

"Ma!" he called, bursting through the front door of the trailer, causing it to shake. He called for their mother again and screamed whenever Jeremy entered only seconds after the younger brother.

"C'mon you little-"

He was cut off by a broom smacking him in the face. Jeremy fell on his back in the middle of the kitchen seeing stars. Josh hid behind their mother in fear, still scared that he'd be dead either way. And he was right, only now his mother was after him.

"You two…!" their mother was frustrated. Her dark brown hair pulled into a loose bun that didn't hold very well, allowing strands to fall before her eyes. She looked like she was having it rough before the two stormed in. Josh backed away, expecting the worse.

"Jeremy has naked girls in the driveway! I saw 'em!" Josh cried, hoping that she'd redirect her attention to her brother. Too late; she swung the broom at him and landed on his back next to his brother, both seeing spots before their eyes.

"Ow…" Jeremy murmured, starting to sit up. "Get up," they heard Pa's angry gruff voice as he stomped into the kitchen, pulling both the boys to their feet by their shirt collars, "You two know better than to act like a couple 'a girls!"

"He started it!" The two cried in unison, both pointing fingers at the other.

"I don't care who started it! I'm finishin' it! Jeremy you go pick up yer porn before I run over it with the lawnmower. And Josh you better get washed up for dinner."

Josh immediately protested, "But Pa! Aint I goin' with you?"

Their father's hard look softened for just a moment, before growing hard again and shaking his head, "No. You taggin' along aint a great idea. You're stayin' here."

"But-"

"No buts! I'm leavin' after dinner, now go get washed up."

Both the boys departed in separate ways; Jeremy heading outside and Josh heading for the bathroom.

Dinner was the same as usual. Pa didn't talk that much and Jeremy kicked Josh's foot when the younger accidentally hit his shoe. And even after that, watching Pa leave was almost a normal ritual by now. Still, Josh sat on the front step watching the truck pull out, dogs howling in the back seat and sticking their heads out the window. He sighed and rolled his eyes when Jeremy took a seat next to him, pulling his hat off and brushing the dust off with his fingers.

"You worried about dad?" his older brother asked. Josh shook his head, watching the truck slowly pull away in the distance just as the sun started to set.

"'M worried 'bout that girl," he said solemnly, knowing very well what might happen to her. Jeremy shook his head in agreement.

* * *

When Kate left, Randall came out of the bathroom much cleaner than he was before. For a while he'd been scared to take baths or showers here in her home but… that hot warm water was so _nice_, he's never going so long without bathing again! He didn't use any soap really but he soaked until most of the dirt was gone at least. No way in hell was he leaving that bathroom smelling like fragmented soap.

He kept a towel on his head trying to dry between his fronds when passing the kitchen where Jane was… dancing?

Yeah, she was dancing; with her snake even. Snickers' tail was wrapped around the girls finger while it hung upside down, her other hand supporting the serpent's head. After Kate had left she needed a pick-me-up, and hooked her iPod to the speakers in the kitchen while she cleaned. Cleaning turned into dancing, dancing turned into singing, and then she went and grabbed Snickers and was now dancing to one of her least listened to songs in her library.

The bird was throwing a fit in its cage, fluttering around each time Jane spun, the cat skittering across the floor with a string of ribbon, and Sonic was following the girl's movement like an excited puppy. Every time she moved a little he lowered on his front paws in a crouched position, as if he was about to tackle her. When she'd spin he'd back up, run around her and do the same over and over again.

Randall was completely at a loss of what to think. She certainly had a bounce to her step but… really? Was she this lonely? She seemed happy, especially when the two and a half foot snake would rest its head on the tip of her nose when she held it out in front of her.

Jane didn't notice him at all. Her emotional turmoil over Kylie being back had disappeared the moment she was dancing. Snickers crawled down her arm and rested around her neck where it was warmest, and Sonic bouncing at her feet giving her barely any room to move. She spun around and stopped staring out the archway. In her peripheral vision she swore she saw that towel floating. It fell just as she turned to look at it, then decided she must've thrown it somewhere along the line. Shrugging the piece of cloth off, she turned off her T.V. before she realized something.

Randall could have been standing right there.

He actually could have been there for a whole five minutes.

The monster wasn't there for five minutes but he did turn invisible before he realized she would see him. Then soon forgot that he was holding a towel, which appeared to be floating. Without a second thought he dropped it, not knowing what else to do.

She shrugged it off when he thought he was in the clear, then stopped abruptly, turning slowly to stare at the archway again. Randall's fronds lowered while he started backing away, hoping to god she wasn't going to call him out.

Jane ran.

Straight out of the room and up the stairs like a frightened animal.

* * *

The next morning Randall woke up to the sound of the front door closing. At first he didn't want to get up, then realized something.

Her truck can't start.

Where the hell was she going?

Randall didn't even leap off the couch properly. He ran and slipped off of his bottom left hand, causing his entire landing to fail. His arm hurt like _hell_, and he cursed so loud the bird screamed in reply from the kitchen. When he reached the windows that had the best view of the driveway in the foyer, he felt retarded.

A silver Chevy Impala was heading down the driveway; probably Kate's car. He sighed with relief before tensing again, and recoiling from the window. Both hands grasped the side of his head like he was going insane.

"What is _wrong_ with me?" he yelled at absolutely nothing. He was getting worried about her! _For no reason_! Randall let out a low growl that grew into an angry yell, getting ready to punch the wall. Okay, maybe not the wall but… _something_!

He had no clue Jane was feeling just as uneasy as he was right now.

"Thanks for giving me a ride to school, Kate," she said sheepishly, noting Kate's disheveled appearance and cup of straight black coffee in her hand.

"Don't mention it," Kate yawned, making a left out of the driveway. Jane rested her head against the window. She had that dream again. Of running a hundred meter dash that for some reason had hurtles. The same three figures in the stands, watching her with little to no interest. Jane closed her eyes and thought.

Maybe she _wasn't_ running for her family. They didn't seem like that big of a part in her dream. And her mind this time wasn't thinking so hard like it had in the first dream similar to the second. She was thinking about _Randall_. And for some reason she couldn't control how far her thoughts were getting. Jane was scared that she was… actually racing for him in that one, rather than her family.

This made no sense at all but, hey, dreams never do. Though she will admit to running track back in high school to impress her parents, Jane knew very well that in her mind that's not what she was running for.

She fingered her long pony-tail for comfort, finger-brushing the strands apart even though there weren't any tangles to start with. Loose strands that didn't want to stay bound had fallen in her face. She blew them away only for them to fall in the same place as before.

_Just as difficult as Randal-_

Her face flushed beat red before she could finish that thought. Why was she thinking of him so much? Stop it, Jane… stop it, stop it, stop it! For a minute she tried singing in her mind and doing everything in her power to get the image of him standing there out of her mind. _Why_? Why won't he get out of her head?

"You okay?" Kate mumbled as they came across the first stop light in god knew how long. Jane sighed with relief when her friend broke her thoughts. Hurray Kate! She never fails! Jane smiled brightly and shook her head, immediately starting a conversation with her chauffeur.

* * *

One thing Fungus learned about Zack yesterday was that the monster, despite his old age and horrific appearance, had this childlike humor that concerned him more than what he was capable of. The large green monster's personality almost seamed like that of a young kitten torturing a smaller creature, like a bug crawling across the floor. The way he talks, sometimes a little sarcastically, is like pawing at the littler creature. Fungus was just glad he hadn't seen said kitten pounce yet.

And who could forget Manny?

He recalled that when leaving the apartment buildings, the large snake-like monster was a pile of green flesh guarding the door.

_Sie sind genug glucklich zu leben ... diese Zeit_, he laughed, slowly slithering out of the smaller monster's way. Fungus' first priority when he got home was to look up Germen. He didn't feel much better about what the creature had said after he figured it out.

Actually, that's an understatement. Fungus had nightmares all night, and started thinking twice about keeping his deal with Zack. Now he was at work during their lunch break, a cup of black coffee in his hands like it would help him any. But he was so exhausted, it didn't do much other than mobilize him. Fungus had bags under his three eyes, and his glasses looked a little lopsided as he took a seat at the table in the closest break room to Laugh Floor 'F'.

That was when Xavier peered into the break room, his eyes shifting nervously about it. When he saw that it was only fungus he hesitated for a moment, staring at the red monster blankly. Fungus returned the other monster's stare with a blank, zombie-like look of his own.

"Rough night?" Xavier asked nervously, rubbing a tentacle behind his head right about where his neck would be. Fungus just blinked. The orange one nodded and scurried to the snack machine, eyeing the candy wearily.

"What are you doing in here? I thought Laugh Floor G was still working," Fungus said wearily, watching him without really moving his head. Xavier stopped half way to the vending machine, the tentacles used for arms curled up nervously.

"I.. am being sent home early," he said over his slim shoulder, before pulling out a dollar from a side-pouch and feeding it to the machine. Fungus blinked slowly, becoming a little more aware of the situation. He watched the monster press in the code of his selection, and then eyed the candy falling to the bottom.

"You hate chocolate," Fungus stated matter-of-factly, sounding a little more aloof than he really was. Xavier winced under his accusation, turning a little to look at Fungus while using a foot tentacle to grab the candy, "Don't be ridiculous," he said coolly.

The smaller red monster watched as the other walked to the mini-fridge, and pulled out a smaller lunch-sized carton of chocolate milk.

"And you're lactose intolerant."

"Am not," Xavier denied, turning to face Fungus fully now. The smaller was too tired to be nervous, or scared. In fact, he really didn't care; he just wanted his damn coffee.

Little to his knowledge, the other was slowly breaking down under Fungus' tired gaze. If he kept this up he was going to explode, letting the other know everything.

"I've known you for years, Xavier. I know you hate chocolate. And I know you're lactose intolerant. That's all."

Xavier's eyes shifted around the room before landing guiltily on the items he had grabbed while being in here. He bit his lower lip and took a seat across from Fungus, setting the candy bar and chocolate milk down.

"Listen, whatever you do, call off your deal with Zack," he said quickly and quietly, like the very monster could be listening to their conversation this minute.

Fungus raised a brow. "What?"

"Call. It. Off."

"I was thinking about doing so today but… why?"

"He's crazy! He's planning on something, and I know it's not good," the other squirmed and winced when he heard footsteps nearing the door, then disappearing down the hall as the stranger passed. Fungus watched him wearily.

"Then why are you working for him?"

Xavier's head lowered a little guiltily, staring intently at the chocolate bar. Fungus did recall that he and his wife were expecting a kid right around the time Monsters Inc. was shut down after the 'conspiracy'. But then why hang around someone supposedly so dangerous?

"After M.I. shut down I couldn't find another job. Zack offered to pay me if I helped him with a few side jobs of his," he murmured, a tentacle curling around the candy bar, "Alice was a nervous breakdown. She didn't think we'd be able to make any money at all, which made me more desperate than anything to make at least enough to put food on the table for her. She eats so much now that the baby is getting bigger. So when I agreed to work for him M.I. reopened two weeks later, but if I quit on him now he'll sick Manny on me. It's not too late for you though, he's only really known you for a day."

Fungus blinked slowly. Wow. Mood killer. He stared back down at his coffee, before downing the rest of it and then giving the other a skeptical look.

"That doesn't explain the chocolate and the milk," he said, redirecting the conversation to the situation at hand. Xavier's eyes shifted to the side, then back at Fungus.

"They're for Alice," he said simply and stood up, taking the goods with him and leaving before Fungus could question him further.

The red monster straitened out his glasses, settling a wary gaze on the chair Xavier had sat in. His story was almost believable, until he looked up at the door and realized something.

Wasn't Xavier's entire species lactose intolerant?

Then that milk wasn't for Alice…

* * *

School.

She hated school.

She hated school so much she wanted to bomb it.

Jane yawned tiredly as she descended the steps of her community college, slightly zigzagging in her step towards Kate's car which was waiting patiently for her.

"Afternoon, sleeping beauty," Kate said, no longer a disheveled mess like she was earlier this morning.

"Off to work we go," Jane cheered tiredly, leaning the chair back so she would be laying down. Kate snorted a laugh, slowly accelerating towards Jeanie's Pets.

Jane fell asleep on the way there, dreaming of Randall laughing at her for dancing with the snake last night. She was so embarrassed, both in and out of her dream. And why was she worrying about his opinion on it anyway?

"Jane," Kate said gently, shaking her friend's shoulder, "We're here, sweetie."

Jane's eyes fluttered open so she could adjust to the bright sunlight before immediately dreading where she was. She crossed her fingers for good luck while stepping out of the car, allowing Kate to walk into the shop before her.

Turns out crossing your fingers doesn't bring you much luck at all.

Near the front counter being taught how to use the cash register by Jeanie was a girl slightly taller than Jane with shoulder-length black hair, a good amount of her natural blonde color growing from her roots. She had a slimmer build which Jane had always envied and a ridiculous amount of black eyeliner giving her a sort of gothic-raccoon appearance that was… somewhat complimenting on her green eyes.

Said eyes shot to the door and suddenly lit up with a small amount of mischief, giving Jane a nasty smile that to anyone else looked friendly.

Jane bared teeth in a nasty snarl in return, only to be cut off by Kate who immediately distracted her.

"Hey Jane, looks like the snake cages haven't been cleaned yet. Why don't we go do that? Oh! And Anthony was supposed to bring his rattlesnake in today so you could look at it! Remember when you asked him to bring Phoebe in? I think Meg said something about him bringing her in today to come see you so why don't we go to the back room- Hi Jeanie!"

Jane had no room to talk while being dragged to the back room as Kate said all of that. In one breath.

Kylie watched them leave, frowning some that she didn't get the tormented reaction she wanted from Jane.

Upon reaching the back room though, Jane froze when entering halfway in. A thirty gallon tank which use to occupy the Burmese that was sold a few weeks ago now had something much more… interesting sitting inside. Anthony, who was the same person holding all of those baby corn snakes a month ago, was a little off to the side playing with Snowball, Jane's blizzard corn that she decided to keep.

"Is that…?"

"Phoebe? Yeah, it is. Isn't she a beauty? Meg and I found her at a reptile show a few years ago. The only venomous snake we'd ever owned."

Phoebe was a seven foot Diamondback Rattlesnake curled up in the warmer side of her cage. She didn't look at all irritated, only tired. When Anthony neared her cage holding Snow ball the snake actually seemed to follow him, as if wanting out to greet him. The thought of his made Jane gush, immediately forgetting the wicked bitch of the west at the front desk.

"She. Is. So. Cute!" Jane gushed, taking Snow Ball from Anthony so he could pull her out. Phoebe crawled up to his shoulders and sat around his neck, eyeing everyone else warily. Kate was the only one keeping her distance quietly.

"Jeanie's going to throw a fit," Kate said with a smirk.

"More like have a cow!" Jane laughed, gently taking Snow Ball over to his ten gallon tank kept in the back and then returning over to Anthony. He pulled Phoebe carefully from around his neck and held the snake out to Jane. "Be careful," he warned as she took it slowly. Jane hadn't had a lot of experience with poisonous snakes, but she had held quite a few that had teeth. Not to mention the Phoebe was probably handled by Anthony every day. She was so well behaved around strangers and not even her rattle seemed to shake near them.

"How in the world did you get her to be so calm?" Jane asked in bewilderment, not believing for one second that she was actually _holding_ a rattlesnake. Shouldn't this be impossible?

"When we brought her home she wasn't like this at all, but kept getting out. The more we handled her to put her back in her cage the more use to us she got and eventually let us hold her whenever we want. The trick is to be very calm though. She doesn't like it when people overexert themselves when holding her," he lectured holding out his hand, palm up, allowing Phoebe to arch around Jane's neck and back into his palm, "I found that last part out the hard way."

Jane winced at the though just as Phoebe's tail was left in her hand, and eventually slithered off her as well. When the rattlesnake was eventually calmly set back down, Anthony replaced the lid, Meg now appearing at her side.

"Oh my god," she growled, looking like she was about to punch something. Anthony pulled her into a hug, which didn't to much to help his fuming roomy/girlfriend.

"That Kylie chick is a total _idiot_! I tried to teach her how to care for and feed some of these animals; she tried feeding the Garter snakes' fish to the Ball Pythons!"

Jane laughed, earning a glare from Meg. She held her palms up in a surrender like motion but couldn't stop giggling. She was feeling better already.

"Don't get mad at her, Meg, she's just…."

"Just what? Making fun of me?" Meg growled.

"No, she's happy to know you don't like her."

Jane nodded in agreement, leaning on Kate for support. Meg was confused now.

"It's the same… Kylie that… eloped… with Ryan," Jane said between giggles, though why she was laughing about this now was a mystery to her. She'd officially gone insane. That had to be it…

"All right, girls, enough!" Jeanie called while entering the back room, oblivious to the hatred between two of her workers, "I need you guys to teach Kylie here how to clean the snake cages. She seems to know a lot about them, won't stop talking about 'em."

Jane glared.

She didn't know _shit_ about snakes.

Meg was silently thinking the same thing, giving Kylie a nasty look of her own.

Anthony was confused and Kate was biting her nails hoping there'd be no nuclear war in the middle of their pet store.

There was a bell ringing up front, signaling that a customer was ready. Jeanie left the back room to help said customer, leaving Kylie sitting there in the lion's den.

"How was the honeymoon, bitch?" Meg snapped, cracking her knuckles. Anthony grew tense, ready to restrain his angry girlfriend if he had to. Mainly though, he was just glad she wasn't mad at him this time…

"Great," Kyle shrugged nonchalantly, walking up to the rattlesnake's cage. Phoebe eyed her curiously, slowly uncurling herself form her corner to watch the girl warily. Anthony saw what she was trying to do, and immediately shifted his guard from Meg to Phoebe's cage, holding her lid down on it.

"She's already been held a lot today, I don't want to stress her out," he said softly. Kylie giggled, seeming like she'd done this before.

"Oh no! On our honeymoon Ryan and I studied snakes for a while, even went down to New Mexico to see some of their native snakes."

Jane was fuming more than Meg was. Kate watched her more carefully than Phoebe was watching Kylie, swearing that her copper hair was starting to curl. She ground her teeth together in attempts to bite her tongue. Kylie knew _nothing_ about the simplest life form on the planet; but she knew very well how to pretend. And she almost had Anthony convinced for a minute when she tried to open the cage, despite his grip on the lid. Meg watched, growing calmer after realizing something.

"Wait," she said softly, gently pulling Anthony off of Phoebe's cage, "I want to see if she can do it without getting bitten."

Anthony looked at her a little bewildered.

"If she's bitten we could be charged for attempted murder! Not only that but they'd kill Phoebe!"

"And if she's bitten we can tell them she was attack our snake without our consent," Meg whispered harshly. Anthony bit his tongue, not liking this plan at all.

Kylie was smiling at them, then looked back at Jane, looking a little smug.

"I've held a ton of these things, captive and non. I think I'll be fine," she drawled, pulling the lid back and setting it aside.

Phoebe didn't like this. It wasn't Anthony entering her territory. It was someone new, with a whole new scent and she didn't like it. The snake recoiled, rattling her tail as if to yell 'back off', not yet flashing any fangs. But Kylie wasn't discouraged, talking softly to the snake like she could calm it.

Jane had walked around to the side to get a better view of what would happen. Phoebe looked _pissed_, and she wasn't flashing fangs yet. But when Kylie's hand started to lower into the tank she swore the snake's jaw started to quiver.

Phoebe wasn't going to flash fangs first. It was clear to Jane that she wasn't going to give any warning at all.

"It's okay, little rattler," Kylie said lightly, almost touching the snake.

"What are you…!" Jane growled, running up to push Kylie out of Phoebe's territory.

Anthony, Meg, and Kate yelled in protest when Jane ran up to stop her. This wouldn't end well, she knew it wouldn't. She had to stop her before she did something more stupid, and got the store shut down.

Kate covered her mouth with both hands, feeling her rib cage tense up. Phoebe really was about to strike at Kylie and if she was bitten then it wouldn't be very good at _all_. But watching Jane charge at the idiot in order to stop her made her gut feeling so much worse. It was like watching everything in slow motion.

Jane felt no different by the time reached Kylie and shoved her real hard.

"Get away from her!" she cried, startling the other.

Phoebe chose that exact moment to strike missing Kylie's arm by half an inch due to the impact from Jane.

But she didn't miss the other girl, sinking fangs into the flesh on her wrist.

* * *

**_A/N:_** As always, review replies are down here!

But first I wanna apologize for making that cheesy scene of Jane dancing with her pets. It's not because I want to make anything about her more dramatic than it already is. My goal was to show a little bit more of her childishness, which I'm hoping you all know is a big part of her character... I try making it obvious sometimes but other times I forget what the hell I'm writing in the first place _while_ typing this. xD So sorry if any of you took it a little worse than I intended.

By the way, what Manny said in Fungus's little flashback was "You are fortunate enough to live... this time."

Oh! And we get to see a little _more_ of Jane's mysterious past! It's kinda out there but how else would it come out?

Okay, on with the replies.

_**Corvigryph**_- Hehe, yeah the summery throws me off sometimes when I go through some fanfictions and forget it's my own story. o.o Dunno why I don't register it fast enough but... oh well. Glad you love it so much and I was listening to that song the other day too, but now that I picture Jane singing it, it is pretty magical. Haha!

**_Lonelyfairy_**- Yeah none of her parents will sound very promising at all... unfortunately. I fell bad for doing that to her but... well... she needs torture sometimes. Honestly though I never expected a German talking monster was going to be so popular though. It makes me happy that all of you love him, so thank you! ^-^

_**BearsRUs**_- Yeah I almost forgot that too when I remembered that Jane drove herself back and forth to school and work. So I sorta broke her truck... -hides wrench behind back- Now Randall has to fix it! Well... at least look at it. I'm sure he'd end up poking it again later. =3

_**ClosetWerewolf808**_**- **That he is. That he is. Manny will have a much bigger part later than just insulting Fungus over and over again too, so I hope to keep you around til then! Thanks for the review! =D**  
**

_**Oriana**_- -Bows- Why thank you very much! And yes, Xavier is an actual employee though you don't really learn his name or hear him speak for that matter. He's only seen for like, a few seconds running into a door screaming and flailing his six tentacle-arms. He's the same species as Toni who owns the Grossery in the beginning though, if that helps some on his appearance. And I can't blame you for loving the villains, I always fall for them too man. They're all so charismatic! Dx

_**Mambo-Like-Dis**_- You know, you made me realize just how many bad guys I have in this story. I had no clue how intense it was getting up until that point but now I'm starting to see it. xD Also yeah, he sort of is but it's obviously driving him insane. Hope you liked this episode as much as the last! ;)

_**YouSpinMeRightRound**_- I'm glad you appreciate my random switching of points of views. Sometimes I feel kind of bad like I'm giving some people out there whiplash... but it helps build suspense too, right? At least I think it does... o.o; And yeah, I woulda socked him in the face too but that's one thing about Jane that makes writing her so difficult. She's the complete opposite of myself and can restrain herself a whole lot better than I can... And Randall's gonna regret not following her. Haha, he's just gonna explode x3

_**TheShiz**_- How in the world do you survive with little to no internet? o.o I'd die! Well I'm glad you have a little at all, cuz I'd be sad not to have you read and review my chapters. D: So now that this chapter is longer it can be a way of also making up for the gas used to drive to the library... if that works. And Fungus is bringin' sexy back! Can't you picture him with a gold grill instead of braces? Cuz I can. xD

_**darkreflection**_- Why thank you! Friday the 13 is an amazing day, I hope you enjoyed it as well!

_**Mrs. Marty McFlyyy**_- Whew! The first sentence in your review had me goin'. My mom uses the word 'two cents' to criticize me harshly, so that was a good one! I'm so glad you love the story and that you reviewed to let me know you're reading! The new movie coming out is going to be amazing, though Randall may or may not be in it... it's still Monsters Inc! Whooo! So thank you, thank you again for the wonderful review. And I love your name. Back To the Future is amazing. xD

I love you all! Thank you all so much for the amazing feedback and reviews!_**  
**_


	8. Rain, Rain, Go Away

**_A/N:_** Wow, this update was a little earlier than I thought it was going to be. Sorry if there is a lot of grammar errors in this chapter, guys. Finals are coming up and I wanted this up and posted to hold everyone over til those are finished.

And I know a lot of you are wondering about the snake bite and... well you're going to have to see what happens for yourselves. Just keep in mind that my research on how snake bites(especially _rattlesnake_ bites) are treated was very limited and I tried keeping it as realistic as possible. Though I have no clue if all of it could be done the way I written it, there's no going back now. I hope I made it realistic enough anyway as to not lose any reviewers over it. I love you guys, hope you enjoy this one! A lot of stuff starts coming together, though unfortunately not much Monstropolis action in this chapter. Just more fluff.

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Monsters Inc. Jane and all the other OCs, however, are my slaves and do my bidding. Even Manny(sorry guys) but I'll share. Lol, enjoy!

* * *

Today. Was. Torture.

If there was anything worse than living in Sullivan's shadow, it was this sickening thought of Jane that wouldn't leave his mind. Normally he would spend the day thinking of what he would say to the monsters that had ruined his life, maybe even come up with some skilled revenge that would beat them to a bloody pulp. And for a good hour or so he came up with a few ideas. But then where were his thoughts always directed to after? Jane.

First he grew a big enough conscience to give the girl some privacy. Now he subconsciously worried about her when she was leaving the house. These two little fun facts alone were driving him _insane_. He went outside to sunbathe with the dog, tortured the cat, went through the engine in her truck again and even watched a few of her movies. Still, the image of her dancing the night prior came to mind.

The sight didn't make his heart race because of the pure gracefulness in her step. Okay… so she really wasn't that graceful at all, but besides that, it sickened him. She was so lonely as to dance around her house holding a snake, allowing it the perfect chance to attack her face. Just because it chose not to, and was actually a lot more tame than he gave the serpent credit for, it still looked idiotic to him.

And here he is worrying about what could have happened to her.

"Oh my _god_!" he yelled, turning the television off and threw it into the couch, "Get. Out. Of. My. _Head_!"

Randall had done everything in his power to be semi-mean to her. Given he was thankful that she saved him, but she was still a _human_.

His stomach growled, breaking his thoughts.

Thank you god, he had something else to think about! Food.

Randall went through the fridge and the freezer, wondering what he could heat up or just eat cold. Nothing looked appealing, so he checked the cabinets. Mostly canned foods, which mean he needed a can opener. He had no clue where those were. And there wasn't much in the pantry other than chips, which he had been eating a lot lately. They didn't sound half bad for the moment, at least snack-wise.

_Maybe I should wait for Ja-_

There she was again.

"AGH!"

* * *

The backroom wasn't immediately filled with panic. More like an awed silence made even Kylie's jaw go slack. And then it sunk it.

Jane was just bitten in the wrist by a _rattlesnake_.

Phoebe didn't immediately let go after her fangs sank into something, but she did release her hold when she realized that her initial target had been missed. Jane stumbled back and tripped over herself, landing on her bottom on the floor. Meg sprung into action.

"Kate, grab that block of wood we use for a door-stopper. Anthony, see if we have any rope left in the supplies closet. The poisons getting to her guys, her wrist is starting to swell."

Kate watched Jane like she'd disappear the second she turned around before swallowing the lump in her throat and doing as Meg had told her. Anthony returned moments later with about a yard and a half of rope, which Meg used her pocket knife to cut in half.

"Let me see it," she said softly to Jane who numbly held out her wrist. When Kate returned with the door stopper Meg pressed it gently to the back of her wrist, "Anthony tie this to her arm, but not too tight. Just tight enough to keep her hand immobile, we need the blood flow. Jane do you have your cell?"

Jane slowly shook her head no, staring through everyone at nothing. She was definitely in shock.

"Okay, Kate go to the back and call an ambulance, Anthony you take Jane up front to wait for it."

"What about you?" Anthony asked watching his girlfriend warily. Meg nodded her head in Kylie's direction and cracked her knuckles.

As soon as he was gone, and Kate was busy, Meg gave Kylie a full on glare.

"She didn't have to do that," Kylie growled, "I had it under control."

"Under control? If Phoebe would have bitten you, you wouldn't have thought twice about turning us all in! Which brings me to why I'm staying back here; to make sure you keep your trap _shut_," Meg sneered, tilting her head and popping her neck. 

* * *

Randall's tantrum lasted two seconds when he turned around, ready to smash and demolish another bag of chips before spotting the laptop sitting on the counter. He had completely forgotten to check the site and see for any updates yet. The purple monster opened the computer and turned it on, waiting patiently for the computer to load.

The program was starting to open up when Jane's phone rang.

He looked over at the counter where she had left it and stared at the number. It was named Jeanie's Pets, meaning that it was probably Jane. Randall didn't know if he wanted to answer it or not. Eventually he decided not to and shrugged, turning back to the computer screen.

A few minutes of working through the internet settings and hacking into a few other wireless connections that were a link to his world, he was eventually successful in using Monstropolis' internet. And what he saw when he entered the URL to the Monsters Inc. website, his jaw practically dropped to the floor.

"It's laughter we're after?" he read out loud. He swore all of his teeth ground together in that instant as his rage grew. He's turning M.I. into some pansy looking little factory, with all its jokes and puns and silly face masks and… why in the world is Fungus wearing those glasses? Randall planned on punching every single one of them when he gets back. Oh when he gets back…

* * *

"Number one!"

Roz groaned when her code name was called from across the room to one of her smaller recruits, who's job remained more around the computer than the actual field work. Number 531 had three legs, one arm, and four eyes that stemmed out but that was all seen from outside his suit. When Roz neared him he shook in his seat, his hand flying nervously across the keyboard at lightening speed.

"What is it?" she demanded slowly but annoyed, readjusting her glasses like it would help her see the screen better. Either way she ended up squinting to look at a bunch of unprinted paperwork. Number 531 minimized the window to a list of numbers, "I was just checking our data stream for a second a minute ago," he said lightening fast, fingers typing in numbers as he spoke, "and noticed that our internet connections were appearing to be a bit slower than normal. At first I thought this could be a virus but our firewalls are custom made to destroy anything to be small enough to slow our connection at least a fraction."

He looked back at Roz to make sure she was paying attention. She blinked slowly, not even nodding her head to beckon him to continue. 531 cleared his throat and slowly picked up where he left off.

"So I checked the internet system and came across something… a little more interesting than that. An internet connection is being made to our systems… from the human world."

Now Roz was paying attention.

"I got the IP address and tracked the location via human map, and came up with this."

The mouse pulled to the top left and minimized with window with numbers, revealing a small satellite picture of a house in an open area surrounded by acres of forested area.

"At first I thought it was a mistake," 531 continued, "but then I thought… not even that many monsters know how to connect to the humans' internet alone. Humans have no clue we exist, unless it's an above average kindergarten student. Still, I don't see how any human would know how hack into our systems in the first place, whether they know we're here or not."

Roz's throat tightened for a moment. For the first time in a while she actually showed some emotion, albeit it was mainly frustration. Her brow furrowed some but not for long, twitching back to its relaxed position.

"Is this the first time they have done this?"

"Hold on I'll check."

Number 531's hand flew across the keyboard in seconds, bringing up a window and rapping on keys, breaking through pass codes, barriers, and eventually the computer's firewall.

"No," he said, somewhat shocked and leaned into the back of his chair some, "The same computer, thought from a different location has logged on here before. Approximately about a month ago."

This had to be Randall. How he got a hold of a human computer, Roz didn't know. If he stole it, that wasn't good. And hopefully he wasn't staying at this human's house by force. If so he'd be locked up with life sentences, or worse.

"Record the address of its current location," Roz ordered, starting to slither away, "Go through all of our door files and see if any match. We'll go in to investigate after we have some confirmations."

"B-But number one! All of our door files are still on paper, none have been converted to computers yet!"

Oh that's right. Roz never liked computers, she preferred filing actual paperwork rather than clicking a button all day. The slug shrugged, looking over what was her equivalent to a shoulder, "Go through the papers then; and record them via computer while you're at it," she said, returning to her original business.

* * *

Jane felt like she was going to throw up. When the ambulance arrived, her bladder was full, her body felt weak, her entire arm was numb and her skin was pale and clammy. Never before had she felt so… close to death.

It was for certain though that Phoebe's bite wasn't dry. Her arm was swollen to a bloody pulp. The only good thing about this was that the ambulance had shown up not even five minutes after the call. Damn good thing, actually.

Kate was beside her, biting her nails.

"Why did you call your cell anyway?"

Jane's eyes rose slightly from the pavement up to the flashing lights as men came running up to her. Her mind was moving too slowly due to the shock in order to answer Kate's question. But she did ponder some to think of a lie to answer later. Nothing really came up.

Anthony helped Jane climb up into the back of the ambulance while the two inside were already going through what little medication they had.

"I have some extra anti-venin in the van," he offered after Jane was seated on the stretcher. One of the men looked at him, "Good thing because we have no clue whether or not we had any at all back in the hospital. We thought this was going to be a long trip. Go and get it we'll have her fixed up in a few."

* * *

Randall started to pace the living room glancing at the clock. He had been steaming for nearly four hours before realizing that it was ten 'o clock, and Jane wasn't home.

She could be closing up shop, but she'd still be home by now. The store only closes at nine, or so she's told him. The reptilian monster allowed a low growl to rumble deep in his chest before realizing what sound he was making.

That sound was very defensive and very protective and if he every caught himself making such noises again, especially towards _Jane_, he made it a personal note to cut off his tail. Why…! Why in the world was he pacing the living room over her in the first place?

"Gah!" he yelled out loud, pulling at his fronds.

* * *

Their definition of 'a few' was more like an hour and a half. It was ten 'o clock by the time Jane's breathing was normal. For the past hour it had been either too fast or too slow. They gave her some sedatives, a very tad bit they might add, to calm her breathing and pull down the heart rate, as well as give her some corticosteroids through her IV. The IV fluids originally were to fight off hypotension and the corticosteroids for slowing down her system and calming the shock. The good news was that Phoebe's bite was so close to dry that not much venom had been injected.

"Normally they inject enough poison to kill about six men," one of the paramedics remarked, sitting on the back of the ambulance while they waited. The other was still going over her vitals, making sure she was relaxed and calm, "Somewhere between the strike and the bite did she give off some of her toxins, not much of your anti-venin was used."

"It'd a god damn miracle," the other paramedic commented over his shoulder.

That was the first time since Jane had been bitten that Kate's shoulders relaxed.

"Although there will be some scarring," the second paramedic said, eying the wrapped wound, "She is very lucky."

"Ya hear that? You're very lucky," Meg spat at a very irritated Kylie who was sitting on the curb, forced to wait with the rest of them.

Jane stirred some.

"How the hell… am I going to pay… the medical bill?" she murmured slightly, starting to come to. Kate smiled with relief letting out a halfhearted chuckle, "I'll help out if you need me to," she offered. Jane shook her head from her spot on the stretcher.

Everyone's attention turned to a cop car pulling into the parking lot, pulling over near the ambulance. The first paramedic hopped out to greet the officer. They talked amongst themselves for a moment while Jane struggled to get up. The second paramedic, whom was still with her, gently held her down by a shoulder.

"Don't get up yet, your body will feel very weak."

"I have to piss like a German race horse and am dieing of thirst. I want to get up," Jane groaned. The paramedic snickered at her comment before pulling out a syringe and filling it with some medication. Jane's vision was currently too blurry to read its label.

"I have to give you a tetanus shot to prevent any infections. After that we'll remove your IV and your friends can help you walk to the bathroom but I'm afraid you can't leave until the officer has filed his report."

Jane groaned, and didn't move much after the needle was stuck in her arm. She murmured an 'ouch' when he pulled it out and threw the disposable syringe in the small waste bin.

"So what happened here?" The officer asked, poking his head into the ambulance. Jane struggled to sit up, so the paramedic helped her by supporting her back some. When she was in a sitting position she felt as though she were going to throw up.

"Accidental rattlesnake bite, that's all," she smiled tiredly at the cop, who's face went from confused to a dull grimace.

"Accidental, huh?" he said.

"Yeah. I don't want to press any charges. It's all my fault, not the snakes," she shook her head. Meg gasped at the last part, "Not even against this wretch responsible?" the blonde growled, giving Kylie a cold glare. Jane slowly shook her head.

"Not even against her. She's not worth it."

Kylie's face grew hot with rage. Not worth it? She'd done everything in her power to pay Jane back for stealing her crush and she _wasn't worth it_? Kylie snapped, lunging forward to attack Jane. Her attempts were stopped immediately, though for once not by meg.

A new pair of hands grabbed her shoulders before Kylie whipped around and sighed with relief.

"Ryan!"

Jane's tired, emotionless stare didn't move an inch but even Meg could feel her spine grow cold from the look in the girl's eyes. The corner of her mouth twitched a little but Jane said nothing while watching the two hug in their short reunion.

"You weren't hurt, were you?" Ryan asked. He had shoulder length blonde hair and chocolate eyes that still to this day make Jane shudder, despite the fact they weren't for her anymore. He normally wore a band T-shirt and a pair of jeans but somehow resulted back to a pot shirt which Jane had always remembered hating. Of course Kylie would be the one to praise him for it.

Kylie shook her head, smiling so bright that even the police officer and paramedics knew it was fake. It was obvious to them that something had gone on between these two and the victim, but not even the cop wanted to get mixed up in this kind of drama. So before it got out of hand like it almost had two seconds ago, the officer cleared his throat, stepping in between the happy couple and Jane's cold stare.

"All right let's get this over with. There's just some things I need to clarify for paperwork so I'll ask each of you as witnesses what happened," he said giving a glance over at Kylie, "And since you seem to be the cause of most of this I guess you get to go first."

* * *

Frank had decided to explore this poor excuse of a town when he couldn't fall back asleep around nine. There really wasn't much to do in the motel and found the same results while he cruised through the streets of Tallulah. There were bars here and there, though none of which were appealing enough for him to pull over at and have a few drinks.

His huge truck trudged down the roads about five miles under the speed limit, only cruising out here because he had nothing better to do. Even before he decided to explore some, his original plan was to get some fast food and go back to the motel, hoping a full stomach would help him sleep. He was actually about to pull over and turn around now to go back to one that looked good enough.

That was until a few flashing lights caught his attention.

On a small strip to the right of the stop light he was currently getting closer to, Frank gave the ambulance and a police car a halfhearted glance to see if there was anything interesting going on at Jeanie's Pets, which was where the two cars were parked in front of.

And then his attention was drawn further into girl currently exiting the ambulance with the help of two paramedics. He gave her a long stare, going over every detail he could see within the few seconds he had. Then Frank remembered he was on the road.

His gaze shifted forward to see a pair of red tail lights that he was quickly gaining up on. He stopped immediately with a slam on the breaks, causing his tires to scream in protest against the road.

The girl looked at him with wide, glazed eyes like she had been drugged for the past few hours. Her long hair grew down past her mid back, its copper tint shining like a reflective metal beneath the flashing lights of both vehicles. Definitely eye-catching. This had to be her.

A car behind him honked to tell him the light had turned green almost ten seconds ago, and Frank slammed his food on the accelerator in order to get out of there before she noticed him staring at her for too long.

That _had _to be her. Just _had_ to!

Frank pulled over immediately at a local restaurant a few blocks down from where she was, hands gripping the steering wheel. His mind flashed back over to the details he had gotten while she was being helped out the back. She was definitely young; good news for him. Not bad looking either, and nice build too. Definitely a runner somewhere along the line. The man pulled out his cell phone from the glove compartment of his truck, hitting number two on speed-dial. He had to call Al.

* * *

It was now eleven 'o clock. Randall had called Jeanie's pets over and over again to no avail. No one answered, not even 'Jeanie' who normally answered phones in the first place. This time the phone had rang about five times before got pissed and gave up, throwing her cell phone into the couch.

"Damn it!"

There was no getting around it. Randall had exhausted himself all day beating around the bush and trying _not_ to think of her. But he couldn't help it; he now admitted to being… a _little_ worried. Like hell he was going to squish his pride now of all times.

The purple monster was now pacing back and forth in the foyer, freezing some when thunder roared somewhere in the distance.

"Fuck," he cursed, beginning to pace again.

He had no clue that a few miles away back in Tallulah Jane was just as worried about him.

_I hope Randall's okay_, she thought to herself. A hand waved in front of her face, gaining her attention.

"Hellooo?" Kate murmured, snapping her fingers a few inches from Jane's nose. Jane's eyes crossed some to look at her friend's hand, then refocused to look at Kate before she frowned some.

"I'm fine, Kate," she said slowly.

"Yeah, and high as fuck. The medications haven't worn off yet. Come on, let's help you out of there," her friend said, lifting Jane's arm around her shoulders. Jane braced herself for impact, sliding off the end of the back of the ambulance. She smiled a thank you and nodded to the paramedics while they climbed back into the ambulance to start putting supplies away.

In front of the shop a large truck jerked to a stop, catching everyone's attention immediately. Jane stared blankly at the driver, noticing that he was staring right at her. She couldn't make out much of him, other than the general shape of his face. The fact that he was staring at her didn't bug her at all, it was really the idea that she can't see far at all right now.

"I need to get home," she murmured, instantly thinking of Randall again. Her cheeks started heating up some, not knowing if it was her or the drugs. But that was also something she didn't worry about. She just wanted to make sure her house and everything in it was still intact when she got home.

"I'm going to head back to the station," the police officer said, pointing his thumb back at his car, "I'll be coming back to check on you again in case you change your mind about pressing charges," he continued to Jane before giving a small glance at Kylie, who was currently tangled in Ryan's arms. Over the past hour Jane had grown somewhat of a tolerance for the two, which pissed Kylie off all the more.

All in all, Jane was free to go home. Now if only she didn't live so far away. One by one everyone left. Anthony and Meg went back into the store to check on their poor rattlesnake, Jeanie whom had stayed outside quietly the entire time headed back in to close up, and Ryan and Kylie left in Ryan's car. And after the ambulance and police cars finally pulled out of the parking lot, it was just Jane and Kate.

"What a day," Jane remarked tiredly before lifting her head some, swearing she heard thunder somewhere far off in the distance.

"Hey, it could be worse," Kate shrugged. As if on cue, it started _pouring_ down rain. Large, cold, hard drops of rain that were everywhere at once, immediately soaking the two. Kate bit her lip. _Me and my big mouth_, she thought, starting to shiver. Jane was already shaking violently, her teeth chattering. That's when her friend decided to speak again, "Still could be-"

"Don't…. say it…"

* * *

Tonight was the best night ever. Despite the fact that it was raining cats and dogs outside, Mike Wazowski was content in his girlfriend's bed; the result of a wonderful date he and Celia had experienced only hours prior. Now said girlfriend was under the covers with him, long snakes for hair sleeping just as peacefully as she was. Given they were all in a tangled mess but they would undo themselves later. While Mike lay on his back, staring at the monstress' ceiling like he wouldn't rather be anywhere else, her head rested on his arm, hugging him like he was a teddy bear she couldn't sleep without.

There was no other way to say it. Tonight was just pure… heaven.

Mike closed his eye, finally attempting to drift off. He still hasn't proposed to her yet. What in the world could he propose to her with in the first place? She had no fingers… maybe a bracelet? That would do, he figured. Or a ring on a necklace, but who does that? He was so close to even affording something nice enough, and the new M.I. is bringing in so much money that he'd have it all in no time! And then he can get her the best wedding planner in all of Monstropolis; and he'd be able to afford it one-hundred percent.

Life was so good right now.

And then his phone rang.

The cell phone he _had_ to have when he saw it two months ago was starting to be a bad idea. Just because they had money did mean they had to get nice things but it didn't mean they had to use them all. The. Time.

He picked up the small contraption with his freehand, which as thankfully on vibrate, and answered his best friend with an annoyed, "Hello?"

"Mike! Guess what!" Sulley said from the other end, sounding more excited than a young monster on its birthday.

"What?" Mike groaned, figuring he'd bite.

"They pinpointed Randall's location! He's alive, Mike! We'll have him back in a few days!"

Mike hung up.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Randall yelled, immediately grabbing Jane by the shoulders when she walked through the door. His eyes averted from her gaze for a moment to watch Kate's headlights disappear to make sure she was gone. When he looked back down at Jane, confused at why she hadn't answered him directly yet, he saw the glazed over look in her eyes. It looked like it could be two things; either she was crying or she was so drugged up she couldn't see straight.

Little did he know that it was both.

"It's midnight," she said evenly, staring at him like she could see through him, "I'm very tired, and have school tomorrow." Randall's teeth ground together, face flushing with anger.

"I know what time it is. Where the hell have you been?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Randall," Jane said softly, easily pulling out of his grip and exiting the foyer. He stood there for a minute sputtering words he had forgotten how to pronounce for the moment. Within seconds he was in front of her again, now seeing that she was soaking wet and shivering. When she realized he was in her way she stopped, now looking up at him. She bit her lip and knitted her eyebrows together in frustration, finally showing some emotion. To her surprise Randall pulled up her left arm, lower hand well away from the bandages.

"What's this?"

"Just an accident at work," Jane murmured, pulling her arm away, "No biggie."

Randall was growing frustrated.

"Can you just accept the fact that I was worried and tell me what happened?" he yelled at the top of his lungs, making the girl cringe. The outburst caused him to lose his breath, meaning that he was now panting, towering over her like he would a child he was about to scare.

And she did look scared, cringing from him with her hands slightly raised to shield her face from him. She opened an eye to see him still standing there in front of her, what he had just said slowly starting to sink in.

_He was worried_.

"I was worried too," she softly admitted, "I tried calling."

Randall's expression softened. Now _he_ felt bad for not answering the phone in the first place. Damn it, this was all his fault. What _happened_ to her?

Jane's beaten expression shifted back to the floor, the image of Ryan and Kylie entangled in each others arms flooding back into her mind. She remembered being in that position with the same boy, though she never did it to gloat like Kylie was.

When she looked up at Randall she could see him a little more clearly now that there was a light shining through the window. Shadows of water droplets stuck to the windows moved across his skin, telling both of them that the light source was a moving vehicle pulling into her driveway, and they were both probably being seen right now. Randall ducked back into the shadows, immediately turning invisible.

Jane on the other hand cursed loudly, glaring at the pair of headlights now parked right outside the front door.

"Oh shit."

* * *

**_A/N:_** Who could it be knocking on her door now? I gotta admit, besides the fluff between Jane and Randall near the end, one of the funnest parts to write was Meg's hostility towards Kylie. Thought there was very little of it, I still enjoyed those few sentences. Go Meg!

I could make pillows out of the emotional fluffiness starting to develop. If you want, you guys could make some too because there's probably more than enough to go around. Not to spoil anything, it will still be one of those love/hate things by the end. But who doesn't love those 'new boyfriend' jitters? As always, review replies are down here. =)

**_Lonelyfairy-_** Hehe, thanks! I really tried stretching my humor on this, glad you thought it was funny! And the title did fit pretty nice, huh? Very sorry to hear about your situation, don't worry, Kylie's going to get hers. Ryan too. As for her being okay well... good thing she's not left handed. And Phoebe's probably content in her cage. Don't worry about the ending when they started to get somewhat emotional, they'll still drive each other insane with these new-found feelings. Glad you loved the last one, and hope you love this chapter just as much!**_  
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_**ClosetWerewolf808-**_ Hehe, you tell me. ;) I've actually been thinking on whether or not I should keep the Adventure part, since this is starting to be more dramatic than adventurous. But it IS Romance, and hopefully this chapter answered your question some. Thanks for the review! =D

_**BearsRUs-**_ He won't admit to admiring her when she sleeps, that's for sure, lol. And I agree! When Kylie's part in this story is done we can roast her; I'll get the pitchforks! -evil laugh-

_**DarkraixCresselia-**_ Ohmygosh you have no idea how happy I was when you reviewed. I read it like, three times over to be sure it was you! And thank you about her dancing being cute! I actually have a sand boa, and my entire family is terrified of all fifteen inches of her(she's so tiny...) and when she was even smaller than that she use to rest her head on my nose. Now she's a brat, but still so cute. We have a cat and a dog too but I've never owned a rabbit; they're so soft and fluffy! T.T And you were right, he _was_ worried. Luckily they had enough supplies in the ambulance(at least I hope normal ambulances have enough supplies like that... o.o) Anyways, thankyou very much for the review!

_**lalailikecandycorn-**_ More is on the way! Thanks for the review! =D

**_Oriana-_** That's one of the best feelings ever, I'll have to agree. Randall and Jane's feelings are starting to develop but even if he's only worrying I still have a lot to do to his pride in order for him to really accept the fact that he likes Jane. He's gonna be a pain in the butt x.x

_**TheShiz-**_ Thank you for reviewing still though. It means a lot to me that you let me know that you're still reading. I hope you liked the last chapter enough, and that you get to a library soon because... well, here's an update! I hope I didn't disappoint you at all with this chapter or the last! ^^_**  
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_**YouSpinMeRightRound-**_ A lot of that drama is about to explode too. Glad it's getting you worked up though; all this scattering my brain into a million perspectives is paying off! =) And don't worry, their inner turmoil is only beginning. It's going to get a lot worse along the line, despite whether or not they start acting a little more friendly towards each other. Sorry the bite wasn't so dry after all but I did my best to make it interesting for you guys. This chapter is also a little bit longer than the usual seven pages but only by three, it's hardly a ten-paged chapter. Hope I kept your interest in this one and thank you so much for the review!

_**Mambo-Like-Dis-**_ Sounds like a scary dream! o.o But you'll just have to see what he'll think next chapter, because he'll definitely get the scoop on what happened at work that day. Their feelings are starting to get very fun to write and Kylie deserves to be bitten by a rattlsnake. Oh well.. thank you for the review!

And I thank all of those who are reading, whether or not you're reviewing. I'm really thankful for the views guys, and hope to keep all of you reading!


	9. Winds of Change

**_A/N:_** Sorry this update took so dang long... but I got writers block so many times and it was such a long chapter to do.

I honestly feel very bad and hope you all forgive me for this chapter. Just promise me you won't stop reading and keep going down to the very last Author's Note at the very bottom. The last few shorts that I've ever written haven't had very many happy endings... but I do believe in them and this story is going to have one. I also promise that this chapter is only the beginning of everything starting to pick up.

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own Monsters Inc. However, Jane and other OCs are all mine.

* * *

Jane clicked her tongue when the pair of headlights stopped, wondering who the hell would be here at this hour. She closed the distance between her and the window, ignoring Randall's harsh whispers asking her who the hell it was. She couldn't see anything except that it was still pouring down rain. A flash of lightening lit up the sky for a split second, and she could vaguely make out the black Chevy Blazer sitting in her driveway.

Oh this day just keeps getting better and better.

"Ryan," she hissed, backing away from the window. Randall, in the mean time, had been freaking out since the second he disappeared. The only thing he was worried about was making sure he wasn't seen. But when Jane instantly recognized the vehicle via lightening flash, he couldn't help but wonder out loud, "Who the hell is Ryan?"

Jane didn't immediately answer, turning her body away but keeping her gaze directed at the window. She started to walk away towards the kitchen when there was a knock on the door.

"Damn it," she cursed, turning to look at said door. This could not be happening.

There was another knock. She could hear Randall growling from his hiding spot against the wall, picturing the defensive look on his face.

"Will you chill out?" she snapped at him like he was a whining puppy. Randall's growling paused before he let out a short, aggravated breath.

Another knock on the door.

Jane cursed loudly and stormed to the front door, pulling it open.

"What do you want?" she demanded, now more awake than she was when she first arrived home, "Your 'wife' has thrown your amazing honeymoon in my face more than once today. She beat you to it, now go home!"

Ryan stood in the doorway seething, muscles tense like he was about to pounce.

"You attacked her with that snake today!" he yelled, "I could have you arrested for that!"

Jane was immediately taken aback. Attacked Kylie? Didn't she get this damn bite from pushing Kylie _out of the way_! That useless piece of…! Her mind was running a mile a minute, but the one thing that kept playing over and over again in her mind was: Kylie was playing the rumor game, and causing Ryan to attack her for it. Jane wasn't about to put up with it this time, not like she did throughout most of her high school career.

"And I could have you arrested for harassment," Jane shot back, "And for your information, I got bit because I was pushing your stupid Kylie out of the way. If I was holding that snake while it bit me I'm not sure if I'd even have an arm right now, so get your damn facts straight!"

She tried to slam the door shut and end it at that. Jane really didn't want him to be here now of all the times he could have barged in over the past month and a half. Honestly, why such bad timing? Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized the door wasn't closed all the way. The girl was immediately shoved back when the door reopened with more than half the force she used to close it.

Jane cursed to see that he had fully pushed the door open, but hadn't dared set foot into the house just yet. Whereas Randall got a little more curious, he stayed camouflaged but climbed up the wall, starting to veer in closer to the door.

"All I'm asking is that you leave me and Kylie alone," Ryan said more calm than Jane had expected.

"Kylie and I," Jane corrected and crossed her arms, "And if you want to be left alone then keep your damn dog on a leash. Kylie was the one who started it all; you know very well that it's like her to feed you bullshit!"

"Then how else would you get a rattlesnake bite if you weren't holding it out to her?" he inquired, obviously feeling like he wasn't wrong at all. Jane's teeth gritted together, and she let out a furious roar that even Randall seemed taken aback by.

"I _pushed_ her out of the _way_! Are you really that stupid?" Jane ranted, not stopping for a minute. She kept on going on about how he deserves a woman like her that lies and cheats and doesn't even know how to treat herself right. Meanwhile though, said girl slowly appeared behind Ryan, soaked from walking across the lawn in the rain, glaring. Ryan still had no clue she was there.

Jane noticed her though, but didn't stop for a second.

"You left me for someone who's lied more times than she's probably wiped her own ass! If you're going to stand here and act like I'm an idiot for supposedly attacking her, then what in the world makes her a fucking saint? Do you not understand the fact that not only have you ruined a seven-year-old friendship, but had no sense as to pick the only one more willing to have sex than to actually be there for you?"

She was out of breath by the time her rant was over. Randall was a little scared to reappear at all, whether or not the other two were still present. He watched the anger boil up inside the other girl especially as she stood behind this guy, who only crossed his arms in response.

"I didn't leave you at all for that reason," Ryan confessed, not knowing Kylie was right there behind him, "I left because Kylie's more of an adult than you."

"More of an adult? She has the temper of a three-year-old!"

"And she knows more about reality than you do."

"The only thing she knows is how to start drama," Jane shot back.

Randall's gaze shifted to whoever was talking, back and forth between Jane and Ryan. Honestly, they had resulted to back and forth banters that made no difference to the situation at hand.

"And the only thing you know how to do is daydream, Jane!" Ryan shot back while stepping over the threshold. Jane's hurt expression from the blow only lasted about two seconds before her teeth bared in a nasty snarl.

"Don't. Go. There."

"Why? Because your parents used that excuse on you all the time? Because you daydreamed more than Cinderella so much to the point that even your grades had fallen? Honestly, whatever reason you decided to go to schooling to become a nurse is beyond me. You were always dancing and singing so dramatically it was almost like you were three!"

Jane's face turned beat red from the realization of this. Okay, so yeah, she did dance and sing a lot when she was cleaning the house, or when she was in a good mood even. Why that bothered Ryan at all was out of her reach. But now that he was confessing this, while she knew that Randall was only a few feet away, only caused her to panic.

And then she remembered what she had to protect from these people, knowing now that she was already beaten.

"I'm not a child. I acted like an adult then, and I can act like an adult now!"

"If you acted like an adult then your family wouldn't have left you behind! Your dad would still be here instead of out with his girlfriend and your mother would have taken you to Florida with her," Ryan growled in her face. Jane stood her ground, giving Kylie a menacing look.

"And what's the difference between me and her? She doesn't dance or sing a lot, but she talks in that baby voice every time she's excited!" Jane accused while pointing a finger.

"So do you! It was embarrassing how you would skip around in public; you were _eighteen_! Everyone around us thought you had some disability! You are so… so childish that you don't even know what's around you! Do you realize who's house this is? Your mother left you here with an empty shell of a mansion while she took her twelve grand all the way down to Disneyworld!"

Jane stumbled back now, catching herself against the wall. His words hurt like a wrecking ball to the chest, and hearing them from him now wasn't helping. She felt herself biting back tears as hard as she could while she gnawed on her tongue, searching for words to say.

She couldn't find anything, and gave the weakest argument she possibly could have.

"She won that money fair and square, she spent it in the way she knew how."

"Yeah, and left her nineteen-year-old kid keep the house that _she_ built so she could 'finish college.' This house was a reminder to her that your dad had an affair. Do you really think that your mom wanted the damn place?"

"I helped build it too!"

"But you didn't help enough. I knew you well enough back then when you first moved here that you were playing in the forests pretending you were in Terabithia rather than helping with this hell hole."

Kylie was now by Ryan's side, deciding now was the best time to chime in if ever, "Lets not forget too, Jane, that it was you all the time who pretended you were a princess. Not once, ever, did you stop and think for a minute where you were headed in life."

Great, now the wicked bitch of the west herself was attacking Jane. The straw-berry blonde groaned inward, but outward she clenched her fists and gave Kylie her best snarl.

"And lest not forget, _Kylie_, that you step on people to get to the top!"

"And?" Kylie shrugged, picking at her nails in a bored manner. Randall growled. He had enough of these two storming in and attacking his human like they had the right.

He froze.

Did he just call her _his_… human?

"Oh my _god_!" he shouted out of nowhere in frustration. He pulled at his fronds as if telling himself to shut up, but his outburst of curses didn't cease. After a moment though, he noticed the confused look on the two strangers' faces as they looked around for the source of the sound. Well… guess the cat was out of the bag.

Randall appeared on the wall just above the doorway, letting out a loud roar that showed off all of his teeth. The sound itself was something Jane would have expected to come of a Jurassic Park movie! Even she was so stunned by it that she could hardly catch her breath after watching the giant monster practically threaten to eat her two verbal attackers. Ryan and Kylie both screamed, bolting for the door and for a moment, fought over who was exiting first. Kylie eventually won and ran for the car, Ryan following suit. When both were in the car Jane could faintly hear Kylie's screams, yelling at her husband to floor it and get the hell out of there.

Randall was laughing so hard from his spot perched up on the wall. Given he had practically shown himself to a couple of strangers that were asking for it anyway, it felt _amazing_ to actually be able to scare someone. Jane wasn't too easy to scare unless you were going to physically attack her, and Randall didn't want to risk putting his ticket home out of service. And still, that thought occurred to him.

His good mood instantly faded when he recalled calling her _his_ to himself. It honestly pissed him off to a point where he just might hurt her to reassure himself. But when he turned around, the girl was gone.

He found her pacing in the kitchen.

"I'm going to kill him," she thought out loud seriously. Randall looked out the window to see that their car wasn't even there anymore. But she was still ranting.

"I'm going… to grab a knife… and stab him. In the face," Jane confirmed, walking over to a drawer and pulling out a butcher knife. She sped-walked to the door, and only made it half way across the foyer before she found herself suddenly immobile.

When Jane looked down to see Randall's tail wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling against her so she wouldn't go outside, her first thought was to cut it off. Deciding that would be too much work, she settled for pulling against his grip.

"Let go of me or I'll chop off your tail!" she threatened, raising the knife. Randall's deadpan expression didn't change, nor did his grip on her lessen any. In fact, it felt a little tighter than she remembered.

"Oh no you don't," he said evenly, going over everything that was said in front of him.

Jane was bitten by a rattlesnake, which if he had to guess wasn't good. He pretty much had just put the dots together on why she lives in this huge place all by herself, which is a little embarrassing for her and he could tell. And her mind has just been tormented by two people he hardly knew existed until fifteen minutes ago. Overall today was obviously just not her day, and reviewing on his thoughts throughout most of said day, it wasn't really a good one for him either.

Still, she pulled against his grip.

"Let me go!" she demanded. Randall didn't let go. Jane was getting pissed. She raised her arm to slash at him when he was suddenly very close, two arms gripping hers so she couldn't make a stabbing motion, eyes glued on the silver blade. Slowly she was driven backwards into a wall, now scared that he might actually hurt her.

"You… you were actually going to do it!" Randall said, awestruck, "You were going to stab me!"

"I'm sorry!" Jane cried, dropping the knife. Though her arm was immobile for the moment she couldn't help but cower down and away from him the best she could, no longer able to hold it in. Randall's tail unwrapped from around her waist and picked up the knife, keeping it a safe distance from her.

If this kept up he was going to be dead by the end of the week. On the other hand it might not, seeing Jane's utterly broken state after he let her go. She pushed herself against the wall, even though he wasn't pinning her any more. This was so bad, this was so, so bad. Her voice came out in choked sobs as she kept apologizing over and over.

Randall had no clue what the fuck to do.

_His_ human.

"Fuck!"

Jane cringed at the sound of his voice, instantly silencing herself. Randall wasn't talking to her he was…! Damn it! There he went scaring her again!

"Get up," he sighed, not knowing what to do. Jane looked at him a little unsure, not knowing whether or not he was going to hurt her. When he registered what that look meant, he rolled his eyes and repeated himself, this time a little more annoyed. She did get up this time but he was already tired and wasn't going to play Simon Says all night just to get her to go to bed. His tail wrapped around her middle again and this time, she was lifted off the ground while he walked with a purpose towards the girl's room.

Jane wasn't so happy.

"Wh-what are you doing? Put me down! I said _put me down_!"

"Will you just…!" he growled, jumping up the stairs four at a time with Jane almost hanging onto the base of his tail for dear life. Very uncomfortable. Before she got her hands any close or practically on anything else, he made it his first priority to get her in bed.

God that thought sounded so wrong…

He mentally kicked himself. What in the world is with him? When he reached Jane's room he tossed her onto her bed, backing a ways away from her flailing body while she regained herself in the mess of her blankets. After she realized where she was she slowly curled up into a ball, resting her chin on her knees and looking up at him with more tears threatening to spill.

Randall didn't want this! He didn't want to sit here and watch the girl suffer like her pain was also his and…

Will it ever stop? Randall let out along groan, mainly to himself and his brain that just… won't cope with him today. Jane was feeling the same thing while she stared at him, not knowing what to do. She felt so bad… now she was threatening to cut him! He probably hated her right now.

The girl hugged herself tighter, not knowing what to do. Earlier today, even while she was drugged, he'd been the first thing she worried about. She was bitten by a _rattlesnake_ and still worried about him! That said something to her but Jane really didn't want to confront her own feelings at the moment. Right now she needed comforting that Randall wouldn't ever be willing enough to give and that was fine with her. But she didn't want to fall asleep crying her eyes out either. When he's around she has better control of herself. Maybe if he'd… no, he wouldn't

Jane watched Randall stand across the room like he was suffering nearly the same kind of mental torment she had. Only his looked a little worse. His eyes shifted around the room before landing on her and staying there, causing her to flush a little from embarrassment. Though to him it just looked like she was about to cry again.

He didn't want to stick around and see her cry. Really, that was the last thing on his to-do list. And if his mind was predicting things right, if she started crying then he'd do something he'd really, _really_ regret.

So, naturally, he started to turn around and leave the awkward silence before it ate him alive.

"Please stay for a bit?" he heard her beg.

Damn it. Wasn't that the one thing he was trying to avoid?

Randall felt his shoulders slump while he looked over them, giving her a pleading look that she'd change her mind. Jane's face flushed as if realizing what he was probably fearing.

"We don't have to cuddle or anything!" she breathed out quickly. His frown deepened.

_Damn_, he thought while biting his tongue, thinking it over. She said they didn't have to cuddle… that was a bigger relief to him than it was probably intended to be. He didn't have to touch her at all then, just stay near by until she's asleep.

Wouldn't… hurt then… would it?

Randall sucked up his pride. There was no way around it; she'd be crushed if he didn't stay and that…. Why the _hell_ was he caring about her feelings? The monster wanted to rip his fronds off his own head on the spot before realizing that she was still looking at him, expecting an answer. In the dark he could still make out the pleading look on her face.

Looks like he had no choice, not even it his brain was agreeing with him at the moment.

The reptile-like creature cautiously sat on the foot of the bed, curling up like a dog would but not touching her at all. To Jane all she needed was his weight on the mattress; that was enough to tell her that he was there, and that was also comfort enough to her. So long as she wasn't alone, and knew he was there, she wouldn't cry over Ryan. He didn't deserve to be cried over and that's all she needed was a reason not to.

Randall listened to her breathing the entire time he was there. For a while it didn't slow or show any signs that she had fallen asleep. Once or twice he lifted his head to look at her, and she'd be drifting off somewhat, before a crash of thunder would wake her up again. The monster felt more concerned than he wanted to admit, feeling her jump some when a lightning flash close by caused it's roar to be louder than most of the booms that sounded every few moments. About an hour later and she was still being tormented by the crashes of noise, giving Randall more than enough time to think for himself. And it drove him insane.

He came down to the conclusion that the reason he was thinking so much of Jane was because he was fighting against his feelings to admit that she was a friend to him at all. Even though he had admitted it to her before once or twice, he was still just telling her that to shut her up. But now that he was here, willingly sitting by her so she'd calm down and go to sleep(not to mention that she had found a way into his thoughts numerous times today) he was starting to think that… he actually meant it.

Jane had been the only thing talking to him lately and even though he wouldn't admit it outright to anyone, not even himself, she had been the only thing he could possibly vent to. And even though he had given her very few details of what had happened, and even made up stories about his family, it still felt good to get some kind of release on the anger he'd been holding. Soon though, he would catch himself and stop talking so that he could save his anger for Sullivan and Wazowski. Sadly though, today he just… couldn't bring himself to think about the two much. Only Jane. And as much as it had obviously pissed him off he had no other choice now. Unless he wanted to overexert himself and never end up going back home, he needed to accept this for himself now in order to just get through it.

Jane was his friend. And he actually cared about her for it. She also cared about him as well, which was a surprise. But if she didn't care much for him then she wouldn't be doing all of this just to help him. Then again… she could just be trying to make up for shooting him like she said she was.

Still, he found out that the doors were now active. Eventually it would be time to go home. Randall smiled at that; once he was home he didn't have to worry about Jane anymore. Out of sight, out of mind.

Just as he thought this another loud crash of thunder caused Jane to jolt, making her gasp some. Randall's expression tensed when he watched her struggle to go to sleep, forcing herself to breathe slowly. The monster felt a little bad, and was very conflicted with his current thoughts.

_It's not going soft_, he finally decided while pressing his side into hers, though facing his body away so that he wasn't exactly making any form of intimate contact, _It's just getting me out sooner_.

Instantly Jane's breathing slowed enough to tell him that she had fallen asleep. Wow… did he help her out that much? He poked her side with his tale to make sure she was asleep and sure enough, she's was sleeping like the dead. Randall didn't know what to do after this. Her body was quite… warm. What? What the hell was he thinking?

He couldn't bring himself to get up and leave though, suddenly startled that she might not be asleep after all. She shifted some under the covers, and then was out like a light once more. Randall lifted his head to look at her for a second to be sure, and sure enough her eyes were closed while she slept peacefully.

Eventually his gaze went to the window in her bedroom, watching all of the trees out across the field thrash violently, slightly hearing the hum of the wind while it blew.

"Do you hear that?" he asked himself out loud, knowing very well that Jane couldn't hear him right now, "It's the winds of change."

* * *

Zack leaned back against his 'office' chair. Fungus had been working for him for only… what, nearly a week now? And the smaller monster had already managed to get the Scream Extractor(Or what was left of it anyway) halfway repaired. All Fungus needed to do now was mount it up to the ceiling with the second piece but Xavier was too lanky to do such and Manny hated him too much to help him out.

Speaking of Manny where was that overgrown worm anyway?

Zack's office wasn't something to really be proud of but it was definitely a room that set the mood. It was an old abandoned study on the top floor of their currently abandoned apartment building. There were large windows that stretched up to the ceiling behind and across from his desk. Either way he was looking out at some part of Monstropolis that, if his plan worked, would burn to the ground eventually. Zack rested his feet on the top of the old wood, careful to not knock over the only lamp in the entire place that worked, as well as his phone which was only used for business purposes.

On the wall across from the doorway, which was the only exit in or out of the room, was a bookcase big enough for fit over a hundred books, but probably only had twenty. The floors were old and wooden except for an old rug sitting underneath the desk and the two barely useable chairs sitting before it. Everything had a thick layer of dust covering it and ironically, this was Zack's definition of _clean_. He felt a breeze come in through one of the shattered portions of the window behind him, and heard sirens wailing off in the distance. His normally goofy grin that he wore when thinking about his current plan was absent. To be put in shorter words, he was in too much thought to even smile at the slightest.

Everything was going well and tonight was the part that depended on a million factors. The Scream Extractor was only a backup in case this part right here was to go awry. Zack's gaze switched over to the reptile head now lingering in the doorway, the creature itself too large to try to fit itself in the room. Manny's second head was retracted, though his long black tongue still flickered every few seconds to smell out his boss. Zack chose that moment to speak up.

"Tell Xavier to bring up the brat," Zack said, his voice a few octaves lower than it normally was due to his down mood, "It's about time we get this plan into action."

Manny gave a low growl and nodded while backing out of the room and taking his own route down to the basement.

Unbeknownst to Zack or Manny, Xavier was currently spending time with said 'brat' in the basement. The orange-tinted monster snuck around to the back room farthest from the main set of stairs used by the two monsters running this entire place. In two of his arms was a candy bar and chocolate milk which he was careful enough to make sure it was as close as possible to the milk she probably drank back in the human world. The creature unlocked the steel door and entered a room with only one air vent. On the floor was a bunch of old wrappers and empty milk cartons along with crayons, ripped papers, and drawings that all consisted of nearly the same things. Xavier found this somewhat puzzling each time she drew a new picture but now he was shocked to see she was in the process of drawing him. Whether or not he was a good guy in this picture was hard to tell, but nonetheless he was still a little flattered.

He noticed that it was a little hot in the room saying as though her dirty clothes were practically sticking to her skin. Her bangs stuck to her face, drenched in sweat until she wiped it dry with her forearm and looked up at the intruder with more curiosity than usual. Xavier cringed when she recognized him and sprinted in his direction, expecting to be attacked or mauled(he still hasn't gotten over the traditional fear of humans) and then relaxed when all she did was yank the candy bar and the milk from his grasp.

While the girl sat where she stood and began downing the food that he had been bringing her daily, which he knew was very unhealthy, Xavier left the room to go turn down the heat in the room. As soon as the door was shut behind him he realized that he wasn't exactly alone at this point. Before he could even attempt to hide Manny appeared seemingly out of nowhere, the majority of his body hidden in shadow.

The large snake-like creature hissed lowly, knowing very well that whatever he had to say would be lost on Xavier. So he got very close to the smaller monster, enjoying every second his tentacles would twitch nervously in fear of what the other might do, and simply nodded gruffly in the direction of the door Xavier just emerged from. Xavier didn't understand at first, cringing away from Manny like he'd eat him within seconds. Manny actually considered it if the monster wasn't so vital to his boss' plan. But after another gruff nod and no response the second fanged head came out and roared furiously. Manny had lost patience. His long tail whipped from the shadows and opened the door, slithered through the threshold and shortly returned with the child dangling upside down, hanging by her ankles.

The girl screamed but not in fear. She was _laughing_, which caused some of the lights in the basement to flicker for a moment. Xavier had no clue why she found being hung upside down was so great, but he couldn't help but worry and follow close behind while Manny carried her that way up the stairs.

* * *

Sully leaned back in his chair while he stretched, now relieved that his paperwork was finished for the day. And pretty early too. Well… earlier than normal. Across from his desk stood Roz, who didn't bother to sit down no matter how many times the new CEO had offered. Though Mike, who was sitting in the chair next to her, took his seat the second he walked in without ever receiving an offer in the first place. Sully didn't mind it though.

"So have you figured out how we're going to get Randall back?" the CEO asked as soon as he was finished stretching. Roz didn't exactly answer at first. But, as if right on cue, there was a knock on the door to Sully's office.

"Who is it?" Roz asked but didn't turn to look at the door.

"Number 531," the creature on the other side answered. Roz muttered a 'come in' that sounded a little more annoyed than she initially intended and turned to look at the monster when he entered. Number 531 was carrying a stack of papers and a lap top with his one arm and nearly tripped over all three legs while scurrying up to the CEO's desk.

"I found it! I found the old records _and_ had them recorded on a program I whipped up to hold all of the files."

Sully's eyes widened and looked at the monster a little impressed, "Wow! It's hardly been a day," he commented.

"Well," the creature shrugged, "It wasn't long to make the program, it's sort of a prototype and still has more bugs in it than we have files on kids. But the family that the house belongs to has the last name of 'Brooks.' It didn't take too long to find them."

"But there's tons of names before that!" Mike argued.

"Well there were a lot of doors shredded in the last few years, Mike. A good chunk of what we had has disappeared," Sully shrugged, then turned to Number 531, "Anyway, so what did you find?"

"Two kids. One of them was nine and the other twelve. Their doors were shredded years ago but we have doors made for syncing with others, whether or not it's exactly like the closet door it's synced to."

"Those are still under testing," Roz groaned, "They turn on and work as a door once but as soon as it's closed the connection is lost. They only work for a few seconds," Roz explained to 531, who shrugged.

"Hey, if you ask me it looks like we don't have much of a choice. He has a human computer and is living in a currently occupied home. Not to mention that the media is coming up with some pretty creative stuff that could have happened to cause his disappearance, and the court has been waiting for his input on the case. He's causing trouble in both worlds right now, Number One, we'll have to use it."

He had a good point. Sully and Mike's gaze shifted over to Roz, wondering what her response might be. The sluggish monstress sighed, not wanting very much to admit that her argument against his was pretty weak.

"Very well," she sighed, "Retrieve one of those doors and we'll spend tomorrow syncing it. The sooner we get Randall back in custody the better."

Mike rolled his eye, "I still think we're better off leaving him in that hell hole."

"And then you could go to jail for illegal banishment," Roz said nonchalantly. Sully ignored their bickering and starting picking through the files that 531 had found, whom was just watching his boss and the other monster argue back and forth.

These files were dated… quite a while back. Sully stared at the one in particular labeled 'Jane Brooks.' If he counted the years right, then she had to be about twenty-one. But she was twelve… and according to the file they first started scaring her when she turned five. These papers were so _old_.

"Roz why would you keep these?"

"Those files were stashed away when I started working here. Any previous information is classified, even to me. I'm not quite sure why they're there."

Sully jumped when his phone started to ring. He caught his breath and froze when he realized that all three monsters present were looking at him skeptically. His eyes shifted between them and the phone before awkwardly picking it up and answering, "Hello?"

"Why hello there, Mr. Sullivan," a smooth voice on the other end answered him. Sully didn't recognize it at all.

"Who is this?"

"Don't worry about that part," the monster laughed, "I'm calling for… business purposes."

"Well then won't I need to worry about who you are?" Sully asked, looking up at Roz. The head of the CDA saw no other reason to stick around and started to leave, Number 531 trailing behind her after he had gathered all of his papers. Mike started to get up too but Sully pointed a finger at him, telling him to sit back down. As soon as Roz was gone, he started paying attention to what the monster was now saying.

"I assure you, Mr. Sullivan, that the only thing you will have to worry about are the consequences of declining my offer."

"And what offer is this?"

There was a long pause. Some shuffling on the other end and harsh whispers coming from the background. After the speaker had regained himself after yelling something in another language(it sounded German but he wasn't so sure) he returned to the conversation with a chuckle.

"Sorry about that. Anyway where was I… oh yeah. The offer," he said and cleared his throat, "I want you to hand over the position of CEO to me, and leave me in control and in possession of Monsters Incorporated."

Sully's face fell into a dead pan expression. Was this guy serious?

"I'm sorry," Sully said flatly, no longer trying to be nice, "But I can't accept your _offer_."

"Well it's either you hand me the position of CEO," the monster said, still more relaxed than the other, "Or I'll send you a very nasty video of what may happen to your little friend."

"What friend?" Sully asked, looking at Mike. Could he possibly be in on this? Mike looked at him with a bit of a shrug, not knowing a damn thing what could be going on in their conversation. Suddenly though there was more shuffling in the back ground. He heard another voice, one a lot higher pitched than the first monster's voice, speak in a babyish tone.

'Say hi!' the voice said over and over. Eventually there was a little girl's voice.

"Hi!" The girl said before continuing in more gibberish that Sully also knew all too well. Her voice trailed off for a minute, and then the phone almost sounded like it was dropped and picked back up.

Now the girlish voice was talking like gibberish into the phone. Sully's breathing increased, he felt like he was going to hyperventilate. His stomach was doing sick, twisted flips that he couldn't help and if he had to endure another minute of hearing that voice coming from a place it didn't belong he'd probably end up killing some one.

And then the girl paused, hearing the panicked chokes coming from the other line.

"Kitty?"

* * *

**_A/N:_** I feel so bad, like I've lead you all on. Sorry but it wasn't Frank that pulled up to the driveway, not so soon. But I don't want to keep everyone in too much suspense so... Jane's secret came out in this chapter. I didn't exactly want it all to come out in a predictable monologue or through process by Jane and kinda figured that a heated argument between her and her 'ex' would do fine enough. Plus it gave us more time to torture Randall and Jane about their feelings for one another. Think about it though, if Frank showed up so soon they wouldn't have any time for their feelings to develop any further than they are now. ;)

Manny didn't talk a lot but his short temper was all that really spoke for him in this chapter. Figured I'd show a little bit more of that and Boo's... misunderstanding of the situation at hand. Anyway, here's the review replies, guys. Hope I can keep all you wonderful readers and reviewers because next chapter is definitely getting wild.

_**Lonelyfairy:**_ Hope I didn't disappoint you with the whole 'Frank finding her and then someone pulling into her driveway' thing. I honestly never thought of how much of a teaser that was until I got so many reviews about it being him. I felt so bad, I hope you and everyone else forgives me! To make up for it I did put a ton more angst in it for you guys. And yeah the Mike and Sully part made me giggle even writing it. I'm really glad you liked the last chapter and hope you love this one just as much!

_**DarkraixCresselia:**_ I was pretty excited. xD And yeah, I think they're starting to like-like each other too, even though Randall is now trying to tell himself she's 'Just a Friend' despite his occasional... perverted thoughts. They don't mean much for not but may play a... bigger role later on when they now know how much they mean to each other. Jane's probably more convinced that she's just his friend as well though... she'll catch on sooner or later. Thanks for the review, and aww, I'll be sure to check out your DA! =)

_**pitbu**__**lllady**__**:**_ Thanks, I'm glad I was semi-close. I did try to research a lot but only found what I had put in. I know the whole thing was a little far-fetched but hey, Anthony had his handy-dandy anti-venin, right? That was definitely one of the number one things that came up and the second I read the first result I realized the whole 'sucking the venom out' was highly _not_ recommended by a lot of people. I'm really glad that you reviewed though! I thought you disappeared D: And as for more emotional turmoil for Randall I did give him some... M rated thoughts but they weren't too bad. Hope to know what you think of this chapter! And thank you so much for still reading and reviewing! =)

_**Mambo-Like-Dis:**_ Lol it's about to get a whole lot worse than that! Don't forget about the problems going on in Monstropolis too. What could Zack be planning? I feel evil just planning it all out for his character. x.x; Glad you reviewed, it made me laugh it was funny, lol!

_**BearsRUs: **_Really glad you liked it despite the quick update! Sorry things haven't gotten so great yet but it's gotta build up a little higher before it explodes, right? Sorry if the suspense is killing you but I assure you we're getting close. Part of the focus for this one was a little more development on their feelings, hehe! If only Jane could see it now, right? _**  
**_

_**YouSpinMeRightRound: **_I really hope this chapter shed some light on the house thing. Of course, it's not all of it, like why her family decided to build such a ginormous house, but it does kind of explain why she's in it by herself right? I guess her mother payed out for all of the loans and bought the rest of it out so there wasn't much to pay for other than electricity and water, and a small cell phone bill but Insurance would probably be a problem for Jane, right? Unfortunately I didn't reveal _everything_ but to make up for more suspense I hope that revealing your question made up for it. But the suspense doesn't have a lot more to build up, I'm shooting for next chapter to be when the fuze runs out. Hope you liked this chapter all the same!_**  
**_

_**Oriana:**_ I want a cupcake! D: Again, for the thousandth time, really sorry that it wasn't Frank so soon. BUT you are right, I do like torturing the main characters... a LOT. Really glad the chapter helped your cupcakes come out extra special(I still want one) and really sorry again for the suspense to build up more. I hope everyone still has some patience left for me! x.x

_**ClosetWerewolf808: **_Lol how was this for romance? It wasn't a lot of fluff, just arguing and muffled turmoil between two characters but it was okay, right? Really glad I've got you on the edge of your seat, hope to see you review this one too!

_**darkreflection:**_ Gold is shiny, glad you really like my story. Hope to see you review soon!_**  
**_

_**TheShiz:**_ Hope I didn't take too long. And I'm glad you reviewed anyway, whether or not it was late! I'm sure Randall would love to help(probably because Jane would make him) but unfortunately they only exist on DVD's and fanfiction sites. D: Really hope I didn't kill you with the suspense here and that the angst made up for it. Like I've said to almost everyone else, the next chapter will definitely be more action packed than this one, and Frank may show up. ;)

Again guys, So sorry to have lead you all on like that. I didn't realize that I had set you all up for such a disappointment. Hope you all forgive me!


	10. Too Good to Be True

**A/N:** So I'm not real sure about this chapter. Several times I had to force myself to write it and while rereading it doesn't make it any better. Sorry it will seem so fast moving at parts but I couldn't rewrite it any better than that for some reason, my brain just shut down. Though this is where everything starts to pick up, not necessarily where it explodes yet. So without further ado...

**_EDIT!_** Really sorry guys, a sentence from Jane at the bottom of the chapter had a section cut off for some reason. the ". Kay Thanks bye!" sentence was supposed to be longer. So I fixed it. Sorry again for the confusion!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Monsters Incorporated. All other OCs are mine.

* * *

Jane stretched under the covers only to pause and realize that something… was definitely different this morning. For one, her alarm didn't go off. She opened one eye to see the flashing red numbers and curse the storm for taking her power out some time overnight. But what bugged her the most… was the feeling of something pressing against the entire length of her back. She turned her head to the side to see… the back of Randall's head.

She _did_ remember him pressing part of his back against her, which helped her fall asleep for some odd reason she can't figure out. But his back was against her leg, and he was curled up at the foot of her bed like a dog. How he ended up stretching to be the entire length of her bed was beyond her. Jane's head whipped forward again, gaze locked on the clock and trying not to concentrate on the fact that her face felt as hot as an oven right now. His fronds twitched, she could feel the tips of the appendages brush the top of her head lightly.

"Oh my god," she said in a harsh whisper that he couldn't hear. He was still sleeping. And she had no clue how to get out of this situation without causing more embarrassment than last night.

Last night…

"Oh my god," she said out loud again, only this time a little louder. Randall witnessed all of that… the fight with Ryan, the argument with Kylie. And… the fact that her parents abandoned her in this house.

Okay so maybe the word _abandoned_ was a little harsh…

"Shut up… Wazowski," the tired voice behind her muttered. Jane stiffened, wondering if he was waking up or sleepwalking or… just talking in his sleep. He shifted a little, giving Jane the opportunity to inch away some before he settled again, and was sleeping once more. Jane slowly sat up, staring at him like he might explode awake any minute and see the awkward situation for himself. She had to get out of here before that happened.

After a moment of hesitation she finally hoisted herself into a sitting position, trying carefully not to wake the monster on her bed. Randall was now on his back, mouth slightly agape and his breathing coming out in soft, quiet snores. Jane had to stifle a giggle. It was actually kind of… funny. He always looked so brooding or angry whenever she was around but now he just looked… tired and peaceful. He wasn't an angel while he slept but he was the calmest he'd ever been. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he's slept in an actual bed. A flush of embarrassment colored her cheeks now that Jane felt a little rude. And guilty, but mostly rude. She'd been making him sleep on the couch this entire time. She had to make up for that.

Then he shifted a little more, but not as much as last time. Now his tail curled up more along her side, reminding her that if he woke up in this position he'd surely kill her. Jane slid off her bed quietly, pausing to make sure a creak in the bed she had cause didn't wake him, and sighed with relief once she was fully on her feet. All of that was done without waking up the sleeping monster.

Randall's peaceful, sleeping form was the last of him she saw as she shuffled out of her bedroom door and downstairs. Once she reached the kitchen she noticed the cat was sitting on the counter, meowing at her. Jane scratched it's head, even picked it up and snuggled him for a minute, before setting him down back on the counter and turning the faucet to the sink on. The cat watched the stream of water cautiously before lapping up what he could. While the feline did this, Jane put more food and water into Sonic's bowl and was about to perform the dangerous task of taking care of the parrot, until her phone rang.

The sound of her phone vibrating on the counter tops caught her attention and she stared at it like it might explode. Not because of the fact that it was a call but because of just _who_ was calling her. Jane cautiously picked it up and answered it, albeit hesitantly.

"Mom?"

"Hey, sweetie!" Her mother's sweet voice that almost sounded as sweet as honey… to anyone who didn't know her personally. Jane frowned, scurrying to the end of the kitchen and making sure Randall wasn't awake yet.

"What do you wa- I mean…. how are you?" she asked, trying to hide the frustrated edge to her voice. She had just been emotionally tormented last night, couldn't this have waited 'til… another month or something?

"Just checking up on you. I got a report on your classes and have been wondering if I needed to send money for them soon?"

"I'm not sure," Jane answered honestly, "I've had enough money to pay for the power bill, water bill, phone and car insurance. But nothing for the classes has come up yet. Not even for the summer courses."

Her mother made a noncommittal sound which was hardly audible, but still there. Jane didn't know whether her mother was already frustrated with her or if the sound was directed to someone else.

"How's Justin?" Jane asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, he's doing good. Straight A's as usual," her mother said defiantly. Jane's shoulders sagged a little. For once she just… wished her mother would say the same about her. But no matter how hard she tried, her father was mainly the one to praise her.

"Anyway, I was mainly calling to see if I needed to send any more money. You seemed to have finance troubles a while ago and I didn't know if you've dug yourself out of them or not."

"Look, mom, I'm fine. Once I'm out of college I'll sell this place and you won't have to worry about me."

Her mother was about to reply when she heard someone else in the background begin to speak.

"Hey, Jane, where's that laptop at? I may be able to-"

"Randall!" Jane whispered harshly, covering up the phone in hopes that her mother wouldn't hear. She did.

"Jane who is that?"

"No one," Jane answered quickly, pulling the phone away and pointing at Randall, "You have the _worst_ timing!"

"Jane is that a boy?"

"No mom it's no one! Look, I gotta go, love you bye!"

Randall stood there a little dumbfounded, not knowing what was going on. At first he had to say he was pretty offended, coming downstairs the second he wakes up only to get yelled at. But before he could even react to that he had to remind himself what he had to try to force himself to accept last night. So with a deep breath, and a crap-load of swallowed pride, Randall decided to ignore her defensive outburst and start over calmly

"Now can I have the laptop?"

She looked up at him from her phone feeling like an idiot. Jane knew she should apologize but… right now she just wasn't in the mood. For anything. And before he would repeat himself for a third time, which would most likely piss him off, Jane turned towards one of the counters and retrieved the computer, holding it out to Randall. He didn't pay much mind to the defeated look on her face and opened it up to find that it was still on. After checking the time he looked back up at Jane with a confused look on his face. Then back at the time, and then back at Jane.

"Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Oh _shit_!"

* * *

Sully had become a zombie. No, wait… deader than a zombie. Mike watched his friend with concern as the big fur ball paced the office talking to himself. It had been a full day after that weird phone call and Roz was having trouble tracing the number. So while 531 was frantically searching via computer, the head of the CDA was sitting quietly in the CEO's office. Mike actually didn't leave his friends side at all that night. Celia wasn't exactly happy at first but when he explained that Boo might have been kidnapped _again_, she was just as worried and even joined the Panic Party. Mike hadn't been to the point to be as death-like as Sully, but if it weren't for Celia being here and trying to keep everyone calm, he probably would have been.

Roz watched the bigger monster while he slowly paced the width of the room, mumbling to himself that Boo's all right, and that whenever he finds whoever took her, he wasn't going to go easy. This actually concerned all three other monsters in the room. Mainly because Sully was _never_ violent, at all. Albeit his small threats were nothing to worry about, the monster was normally too nonchalant to make them. Now he was on edge, his fur stuck out on end every time his muscles tensed, his tail about took out the desk a few times, and if they didn't find Boo soon they might have to restrain Mr. Sullivan.

Mike frowned and decided he needed some fresh air. For himself. Which, unusually, meant that he'd be going without Celia as well.

"I'm gonna go grab a coffee, Schmoopsie Poo, you want anything?" he offered sweetly. Celia gave him a tired look and nodded sadly. It was obvious that she was just as worried as the rest of them. So much so that she was actually shaking, and her hair wasn't handling it too well either. All five snakes lowered their heads, and didn't even cheer up at the sound of Mike's voice like they normally did. Mike frowned, he hated seeing all of his friends like this. Not only because their attention was focused on something other than him, but the little girl that meant the entire world to his best friend was in possible danger. A human in the monster world is one kind of threat. A human being _harmed_ in the monster world is an entirely different one, and a more dangerous one at that.

Mike Wazowski was halfway out the door until Roz's sweet and charming voice caught his attention.

"I'll have a Mocha with extra crème and two spoon-fulls of sugar. Decaf."

The smaller green monster started to ignore her and just before the door was closed…

"And if you don't have it back here in fifteen minutes there's going to be a twenty three-nineteen, Wazowski."

Ugh. Mike groaned again out loud as if echoing the one he had in this thoughts once the door was fully closed, and made it over to the closest possible break room.

* * *

"There's no way I can do this, Xavier. Zack wants me to finish the scream extractor in four days, and there's no monster strong enough to hold it up for me while I mount it to the ceiling and finish the engine up there!" Fungus complained after taking his coffee gratefully from the monster he was addressing. Xavier took a drink of his own coffee, a little more relaxed today than any other for some reason. Fungus didn't know why his usually tweaked friend was so mellow today of all days, especially since they've been hearing rumors of the CEO going crazy all morning.

"Zack has a friend coming in tonight to help you. She's strong enough to hold the Scream Extractor up with her pinkie, so it'll be a piece of cake from tonight 'til it's finished," Xavier replied with a shrug.

"Does she speak English?" Fungus inquired with the raise of an eyebrow. Xavier snickered and nodded. That bit of information felt like five-thousand pounds was lifted off his shoulders.

"It'd be nice to work with someone who doesn't speak German and isn't breathing down my neck half the time," the smaller red monster shuddered, "Anyway, how does Zack know this one?"

"She's come in once or twice before to move those big crates around. Sometimes Manny's too precious to just risk getting hurt. But he came across her a while ago while she was working for construction. She see's his little chores he has for her as side jobs and needs the money."

"Wow, so she's about as strong as Sully then?"

"Same species. Guess it's in their nature," Xavier shrugged, "Anyway, she's nice. I just hope this is the last side job she takes from Zack for a while."

Fungus gave his friend a dubious look, "Why are you so relaxed today? Aren't you on edge?"

"Nope," Xavier smiled, "Zack is almost done with his business offer he'd been working on for so long. As soon as that's done I'm free to go! Not to mention, Alice is due by the end of the month!"

"Congrats! You know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Fungus asked getting excited. Xavier shook his head.

"Hard to tell, we'll know when it's born though. I hope it's a girl, Alice has her tentacles crossed for one."

Just as Xavier finished his sentence, another monster entered the break room, giving his fellow laughers a wave and a smile.

"How's it goin, guys?" Mike Wazowski smiled while walking with a bounce in his step towards the coffee maker. The smaller green monster was happy at the moment, mainly because he was able to escape the tension starting to pent up in Sully's office. Xavier's mood fell once his gaze settled on Mike. If he stuck around here long enough he might reveal something about the kid. The orange monster immediately stood up and looked at the clock on the wall, "Well will you look at that! Better get back to the laugh floor!" He laughed nervously while running out of the break room. Fungus raised an eyebrow at him. He still had no clue about the kid. Or even the real reason he was creating the scream extractor over again.

Mike made a gesture of looking over his shoulder(which seems physically impossible at times) while shrugging Xavier off and smiling at Fungus. "Hey! Guess who might be coming home tonight?"

"Who?" Fungus asked. He didn't talk to Mike that often but sometimes, when the little monster was desperate enough for attention, he'd rant to Fungus about some things. Every now and then chat was all that took place between them, really.

"Randall," Mike said with the roll of his eye, "They're working over time to send out that search party due to ah… technicall difficulties," he muttered. Mike didn't want to scare Fungus by telling him about the kid being in trouble here in the monster world or anything. But almost everyone here knew about the CDA trying to retrieve Randall Boggs from the human world. And Fungus did know that part, he just didn't worry too much of it. Mike just wanted conversation for some odd reason, and Fungus was going to be kind enough to listen anyway.

"Really!" he said, sounding shocked.

"Yep," Mike said while filling up three cups of coffee, making one of them a mocha from the fancier coffee machine, "I still think it's a bad idea."

* * *

Al wasn't necessarily one to follow any orders. Especially ones along the lines of 'No Weapons Allowed.' Jim, Rick, and two other men from before also had a hard time following such rules. Frank on the other hand, was the only one in Al's run down motel room that didn't have some sort of rifle in his hand. Instead, he sat in the corner in one of the motel's chairs, surveying the men before him.

All six men had something on their mind. Jim, Rick, and the two others whom Frank hadn't identified had something along the lines of what kind of money this exotic creature could bring them. Frank, of course, was thinking of the large grey eyes that surveyed him from across a parking lot. And Al was going over how sweet this revenge may turn out to be. Either way, they all had one common goal, despite the fact that each and every motive was different.

Frank pulled the blinds aside for a moment to see how bright the day had gotten. Not a cloud was in the sky and it was actually perfect weather for… most activities.

"So I guess I'm gonna go there tonight and make sure she still has your gator?" Frank asked, turning his head to face Al who paused in the process of cleaning his gun, only to look Frank with little to no humor in his eyes.

"No, we're all going. Tonight."

* * *

Jane sprinted out her front door so fast, Randall thought she'd just disappeared. And she wasn't even going to school! He sat there and watched her throw a fit of curses to herself and the entire house. And then she called the school and had called off so the absence wasn't entirely unexcused. Then after that, she called Kate.

Now she was sprinting so fast she looked like she was flying, zeroing in on Kate's Impala like the car would flip over on impact.

It didn't.

Jane smacked into the side of the car and threw the door open, much to her friend's protest. And once she was inside she realized that Kate was giving her the sort of death stare she would to someone who slammed their car door into hers. Jane looked at her friend then motioned to her small frame, "You really think I could dent your car?"

"You were flying fast enough," Kate muttered while throwing the car in reverse and turning around to leave the driveway. Jane watched her give a good look at the rear view mirror, but not at herself.

"Didn't you leave the front door open?" her friend asked, looking at the rear view mirror again. Jane looked over her shoulder just as the house began to fade away into the trees

"Nope," she answered, knowing very well that Randall probably closed it.

"So I need your opinion," Kate said and began biting her lip in thought. Jane cocked her head, a little confused, and asked, "What with?"

"Ali's been… quite an oddball lately and I know that kids have imaginary friends sometimes but I'm not quite sure if it's healthy for her to focus on nothing but."

Jane raised an eyebrow, beckoning her friend to continue.

"It's all she talks about, she draws pictures of it at school, gets in fights with kids over it, and she just won't focus on anything else. Not even school! I get calls daily because she… well… just won't pay attention, thinking about this imaginary friend of hers!"

Well she is like, six, right? Jane thought about this though. It is sort of unhealthy for a child to be more focused on something she knows isn't real than her responsibilities itself but she'd learn eventually.

"So what do you need my opinion for then?"

"I'm not sure if I should take her to a therapist or not."

"A _therapist_?" Jesus, she's in Kindergarten! She doesn't need a therapist!

"She doesn't need a therapist," Jane shook her head, repeating her thoughts, "She needs her mom."

"I've tried everything!" Kate cried, "I don't know what else to do! She's convinced that every Wednesday night, a monster comes out of her closet and tells her jokes. And that sometimes he comes on the weekends too because he works overtime."

Jane stopped listening after that. Kate kept on ranting, not sure if she was just talking to hear herself talk or to reassure herself that her daughter isn't insane. But Ali wasn't insane, Jane knew that _now_. Little did her friend know that those monsters are real.

And that Jane had just found Randall's ticket home.

A long day at work was ended with Jane going home with Kate for a relaxing cup of coffee before heading home. The police officer from the day prior came by to check on her, and to tell her she should probably take off for a few days due to stress. Jane waved him off with a polite laugh, said she can't afford it, and didn't mention at all that she was attacked in her own home the previous night either. There was no real reason for not mentioning it other than the fact that they'd get their's. Plus, they'd mention something about Randall for sure(if they haven't tried telling anyone already), and she didn't want to risk dealing with that at least until he's gone.

Jane lowered the coffee mug from her mouth for a moment, back against the tall chair and feet rested on the countertop. What's she going to do once he's gone? Given he'd only been around for such a short period, she'd gotten so use to him being there Jane never really realized how… alone she felt before. She's going to be so bored…! She'll die of boredom!

Another sip of coffee muffled her mini-panic and she calmly resumed her thoughts. Well… slightly calmer than she was just two seconds ago. Once he's away then she'd be alone again. But he could… stay here, couldn't he?

She mentally kicked herself. Randall had a family! He was needed elsewhere much more than she needs him, that was the main reason she needed to get him back anyway. Jane felt a little sad again. What was his family like anyway? Did he have a wife and kids? Nah, he's too mean for all that… or maybe there's a monster who overlooked that? His parents, sisters, brothers, whatever he had… Jane was sure they missed him too.

"Get your feet down!" Kate scolded in her motherly voice. At first Jane thought she was talking to Ali, whom was running around the living room with a princess tiara and a light up sword. But then her feet was pushed forcefully off the counter top, forcing Jane's face to come nose-to-nose with an angry Kate.

"How old are you?"

"Um… twelve?"

Kate rolled her eyes, which was exaggerated with her head moving along to it, and eventually the motion was extended into tired way of turning around. Jane felt a little bad. Here she was, invading her friends home, and taking advantage of it while Kate hadn't been enjoying her coffee as much as she did. Jane set her mug on the counter and stood up to help her friend clean up the kitchen some, which was a mess that Ali managed to make within a matter of ten minutes.

And then she was knocked down.

"Die, mighty dragon!" Ali screamed, pointing the tip of the plastic sword at Jane's throat. Jane was confused and mouthed 'Mighty dragon?' before starting to grasp what the child was saying. A second later she roared and lightly wrestled with the child, picking her up and holding her upside down, legs immobile so she couldn't kick, and flailing like a fish out of water.

"I win," Jane smiled lightly setting Ali down, right-side-up.

"Guess what!" Ali said, ten times louder now than she was a second ago. Jane winced at the excited cry but smiled anyway, asking the child what she was so excited about.

"I has a monster in my closet," she beamed. Jane's heart practically stopped. How could she forget that? _How_ the _hell_ could she forget _that_? Within seconds she had Ali by the shoulders, smiling so big that the kid probably thought she was going to eat her.

"That's… AMAZING! Ali! When is it coming next?"

"Tonight?" she squeaked, very confused, and was even more so when Jane let go and went to tackle Kate the same way she had tackled Jane.

"Hey I gotta go can I borrow your car? Kay thanks bye!" Jane called while running out the door with her friend's car keys. Kate was so confused she really didn't feel like she had a real say in the matter. Wait… she didn't have a say in the matter. Because by the time she could breathe and give her friend a straight answer, her Chevy Impala was already leaving their cozy cul-de-sac.

Jane honestly wanted to kick her parents for picking such a far out place to build a house. Actually, she wanted to kick herself for not ditching it and letting her mother buy her a nice condo instead, someplace closer to town or something. Because despite the fact that she was speeding, it still took her forty-five minutes to get home, and three more to reach the house via driveway. Everything after that was a blur.

Mainly because _she_ was a blur, running full speed at the house, through the foyer, and into the kitchen. Even though she was sadly conflicted with herself about what she'd do once Randall was gone, Jane was so excited that she could help him out that she'd give up her boring life in order to do so. And here she was, spotting him walking across her kitchen and stop to stare at her like she was a train and he was strapped to the tracks, and tackled him full speed to the floor. Yeah, he was a little pissed on impact.

"What the _hell_ are you doing!" he yelled, somewhat trapped under her weight. Jane got off him immediately, and once he had himself supported on his elbows with the lower arms, and arms straight on the upper arms, she couldn't hold in her excitement.

And then she hesitated.

Randall cocked his head at her, still on his back but his tail was flicking in a somewhat agitated motion. His fronds were crooked, his eyes were looking at her like she was completely crazy, and for some odd reason her breath just hitched in her throat. Jane couldn't find the words to speak. She didn't know why this was so difficult but…

…but he had a family to go home to. And she couldn't keep that from him.

"You can go home," she breathed out slowly in contrast with how excited she was just seconds ago.

Randall didn't exactly grasp this right away. For the majority of the day he had been trying to avoid thoughts of last night. Not the parts about her getting bitten by a deadly creature or the two odd balls that thought they could walk all over her on her own turf, but the weird exchange of feelings before and after all of the above. Something has gotten into him lately and honestly, he blamed the entire human world in general. Don't get him wrong, he wanted to go home more than he wanted to break the Scare Record at M.I., but some part of this little 'vacation' was never going to leave his memory. Ever.

So after a moment when he still didn't fully understand what Jane said, he thought for a second that he might be dreaming. Or that the impact knocked him out, or he was hallucinating, or _something_. But he had to confirm his thoughts not by thinking about this fully, but by saying possibly the smartest thing he could think of within the five seconds he had been sitting here thinking.

"What?"

Jane took a deep breath for patience.

"You. Can. Go. Home."

Randall searched her over to see her now dead-pan expression to force himself to believe her. She was telling the truth.

He was going to go home.

And for some odd reason he wasn't as excited as he thought he'd be.

* * *

Mr. Sullivan, head CEO of the newly improved Monsters Incorporated, stood tall and proud amongst a group of scurrying CDA agents. Next to him stood Mike Wazowski, one of the top laughers the factory had to offer, looking… less tall and proud than the CEO. Actually, _a lot_ less tall and proud. And Celia Mae, the receptionist, was on the other side of Mike, looking at Sully like he'd explode. Because he will. Any minute now, he's going to blow up in a fit of rage as soon as the sedatives wears off, and he starts catching up to reality.

"Roz, shouldn't we be more worried about the human child?"

"We are more worried about the human child," Roz replied to Mike with a simple statement that didn't clear any of the smaller monster's confusion. At all.

"Then why are we still working on getting Randall back?"

"As soon as he is in our custody our full attention will be turned to the other issue at hand. For now, 531 has spent the entire day trying to connect and trace the phone call."

Celia didn't catch any of the continuing conversation between Mike and Roz. Instead she focused more on the handcuffs that kept Sully's claws behind his back while he stared lifelessly at nothing. This was the CDA's way of trying to buy time if he comes to before the operation of extracting Randall is complete. But the reason she kept staring at the restraints was mainly due to the fact that they wont hold much at all. When Sully snaps, he's going to snap. Even Celia was smart enough to see that.

The four stood a while longer while the agents scattered around them in the simulation room, moving things out of the way and bringing in machinery for the door they were about to synchronize. Number 531, who had to stop searching for the phone number, came scurrying in with a laptop under his one arm while bigger agents followed, four of them carrying a large metallic door that was way heavier than it looked.

While the door was being placed in the docking station and secured, number 531 had connected the lap top to a series of USB cords that connected to some of the larger machinery now hooked up to the docking station.

"How's everything looking?" Roz asked tiredly. Number 531 jumped, not seeing her there at first, then caught his breath and began opening a few programs on the computer.

"I have the coordinates saved to sync with. And the door will automatically sync with the most used closet in the house."

"Hop to it, we have other things going on," Roz ordered. The agent nodded with a nervous sigh and maximized an open window. After tweaking a few settings, punching in a few codes and passwords, and clicking a few more buttons, he was happy to announce that the synchronizing process was in motion.

The other agents in the room backed away from all equipment, standing along the back wall. Sully, Mike, and Celia were standing together behind the main controls of the simulation room, just as silent as the rest of the agents. The closer the loading bar became to full on the small computer screen, the more unbearable the silence started to become. Everyone was nervous for many reasons.

What if it backfired? What if the machine synced to the wrong house? Or if it didn't work at all? Number 531 crossed his fingers, watching the loading bar and then the door.

And just before Mike thought he was going to explode, the red light above the experimental door shined like a Christmas light, lifting a weight so heavy off of everyone's shoulders that Celia thought she'd fall.

"Synchronization complete."

* * *

**A/N:** I like writing Ali. One minute she's threatening to kill a mighty dragon as a warrior princess and the next she's scared that Aunt Jane has probably gone insane. I was never like that as a child but I sure do hope my kids turn out that way! What's funner than tea parties? Killing Dragons while wearing tiaras and crowns. And heels... so long as our feet survive it. A-n-y-w-a-y, so review replies are down here. Also, guys if you have any ideas don't hesitate to write them out via review. I'm open to all! =) I do already have an idea how the story will end(had it planned out since chapter three) but any ideas going between now 'til the end are greatly appreciated. And criticism(because I know this chapter needs it).

**_DarkraixCresselia:_** Yeah, it'd probably be the catch phrase of a product if he was the creator of it. It's just one of his most famous lines, I couldn't help but throw in it here somewhere. And I'd feel bad to have a M.I. FanFiction without Boo, but her part will be much bigger than it is shortly ;) Can't leave her out of the adventure, can we? And yes I am, though I've hardly logged in since the summer started. I'll be sure to look you up and add you though, you'll know it's me. =D**_  
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**_Lonelyfairy:_** Your review cracked me up! XD I loved it, still read it just for a laugh whenever I'm down. I'm really glad I didn't disappoint you with the last one and hope this chapter built up a little more excitement. Yeah it was kinda boring, mainly going around seeing where everyone is, but everything's gonna go boom all at once. Gotta be exciting, right? Haha, hope to see your review for this one!

_**Oriana:**_ Imaginary cupcakes will do. I just want some, they sound delicious. =) Sadly there wasn't much of a lovers spat in this chapter, just madly running around. Jane was in a hurry a lot in this chapter, I just now realized that... o.o; Anywho, really glad you liked the last one none the less and hope you loved this one too. I'll be looking out for your review! ^-^

_**BearsRUs:**_ Haha, eewww, I'm a little grossed out too. That's okay though, I needed. But I won't let them hurt Boo, she's safe. ;) And thanks for the compliment. You're right, I shouldn't worry about it so much. So long as everyone loves the update, it doesn't matter how long or soon it took to update. Thanks again for the review!

_**darkreflection:**_ Blow up. Lol, and yet _another_ cliffhanger! I really need to stop doing that... thanks for the review!

_** ClosetWerewolf808:**_ They are, aren't they? Unless they're happening to you... I hated it when I went through those moments, I always wanted to hide under a rock. Lol, but her tough day may be over, she's going to have another one. And it's going to last a while. ;) Stay tuned!

_** christine:**_ I actually did write that scene out a few times. It looked awesome but in the long run nothing turn out the way I wanted to. And I have thought about having Randall stay. You're right, Jane does need him a lot more(though she's a little stubborn to admit it), but I will take that into consideration. Thank you for the suggestions. And I hope I don't disappoint you on how their situations mesh. Thanks for the review! =D

_**YouSpinMeRightRound:**_ Aww! I wanna hug you! Thank you so much for the amazing review! I know that I didn't cover everything, I just didn't want to take away the mystery that had this whole story going. Gladly though, that was the last of Kylie and Ryan. But everything else? Well... not so much. Can't wait to read your review for this chapter, because everything leading up to this _will_ seem like cake. And loads of it!

_** Mambo-Like-Dis:**_ Really sorry about that, couldn't help it. xD I laughed when I read that, but that does sound very painful(sorry again). Thanks for the amazing review and I hope to see another one from you for this one! ^-^_**  
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_**Corvigryph:**_ Thank you very much! At first I was admittedly worried about how well he'd be in character, but I'm glad you see it fits. Thanks for the awesome review!

_**TheShiz:**_ Why thank you! Glad you could make it to the library! Missing out on a review from you is like a day without the sun. Haha, hope you get a good grade on that big paper and that your car is fixed soon. All good luck to you, and thanks for reviewing! =)

Stay tuned for the big boom guys. It's gonna get crazy!


	11. The Ring of Fire

**_A/N:_** You. Guys. Are. AMAZING! These reviews make me dance around my room in happiness, I love you all!

Also, don't know how happy this will make you, but I've been playing with the idea of a sequel... Actually been playing with it since Chapter 3. You'll have to see how this one ends first but I do have a good part of the plot line figured out... I won't think too much on it now or this story will never get done. But I just wanted to know what you guys would think?

And for the first time in a few chapters, I have to say that you guys won't be disappointed! Well... towards the end, anyway. Things do really pick up but for such a short amount of time, and it's not even the real climax guys. We still have everything going on with Zack and Manny to take care of too! Can't wait to know what all of you amazing readers and reviewers think!

One more thing, had to mention this. I was watching an old movie on AMC the other night and saw a Direct TV(at least I think it was) commercial that was about a chicken and an egg fighting over who came first. Because seriously, who came first, the chicken? Or the egg? This isn't my point though. The voice actors from Monsters Inc were actually playing as the chicken and the egg. The guy who played Sully(John Goodman) was the chicken, and the actor that played Randall(Steve Buscemi) was the egg. Just had to share that with everyone.

**_Disclaimer_****:** I do not own Monsters Inc, or a large brownie Sundae. But if I did own any of these things I'd be the happiest girl in the world. =) I do, however, own Jane and any other characters that were not in the original movie.

* * *

Jane stumbled backwards and caught herself by grabbing the door-frame on either side while Sonic pushed his way out the door past her. Randall snickered at her awkward position when she tried pulling herself up. The human rolled her eyes and snapped a hurried remark back. Randall didn't hear much of it, for she was already running towards the still running car.

When she had told him he could go home, Randall slowly straitened himself out and was practically dragged out the door. Even though she opened it, Sonic still beat her out the threshold, happy he was no longer confined by the empty house. The last he heard was the bird screaming out of annoyance(the cat was probably sitting on his cage) when the door was shut.

Randall stopped in front of the car like it was an alien space ship, staring at it like it was from a completely different world… because it was. Jane was half way in the car when she paused and looked at him, butt poised to take a seat. But when she noticed his hesitation to approach the silver Impala, her patience began to wear thin.

"Get in the damn car!" she scolded him. Randall glared back at her. He wasn't sure if he could trust this thing. Hell, looking at her car didn't help him find out much about how it runs at all! Not to mention, the seating was different. He was huge, humans were tiny… how would he fit?

So before Jane literally punched him square in the face, he took a deep breath and answered her, "No."

Jane faltered. For a second, she didn't look as mad as he'd expected, but then the anger soon returned, and she gave him an irritated snarl.

"Don't you want to go home?"

"I do," he nodded calmly in contrast with the hint of anger in her tone, "But I won't fit."

"Easy fix," she growled while walking around the car. Jane opened the passenger and adjusted the seat. She pushed the chair back further and leaned the back support back further as well. Once she was finished she stood back up and looked at Randall with a smug expression on her face. The monster returned that with a bitter look of his own, brushing past her and taking a forced seat in the car. Surprisingly, he fit pretty well, albeit the car was a little snug.

"Told ya," Jane muttered as she slid into her own seat and slammed the door shut. Randall rolled his eyes with a 'pfft' and took to looking out the window.

And five minutes later…

"So what's your family like?"

Randall turned to give Jane a 'Are you serious?' look until he realized that it was the lie he came up with a while ago to keep her off his trail. Well that backfired. Randall looked back out the window, searching for the right words to say.

"Uhm… A wife and two kids," he shrugged, "I have brothers and sisters and a mom, never really knew my dad," he shrugged again.

Every. Word. Was a lie.

Randall ignored the fact that the car was accelerating at a deadly speed and decided to pay better attention to his answer when Jane asked him another one.

"Well… what are your kids like?"

"One boy, one girl," he shrugged, starting to get the hang of it, "Ted and Tiffany; ten and twelve. Tiffany's a neat freak, Ted's sort of a trouble maker."

Jane gave Randall a side smile. His wife must be a beautiful woma- …monster, in order to raise such cute kids. Well… she guessed they were cute. But something still pulled at her stomach, a new feeling she hasn't felt in so long, she could hardly name it.

Randall's answer was enough to quiet her for the rest of the trip. Randall was glad for this, because he wouldn't have paid any attention to what Jane had to say next. By the time they reached town he was too busy looking around, almost seeing the human world for the first time and it was… _exactly_ like his own. Some of his pride chipped along with his will to lie anymore once he saw the small town and recognized so many things that was also in his world as well, used for the same things.

By the time that Jane had reached Kate's neighborhood she felt like she needed to say something.

"So how are we doing this?" Randall asked, interrupted her train of through before it could even leave the station.

"Kate's daughter's closet is scheduled for a laugh tonight. I'll go in there to distract but you don't really need it. Just find her room and hide under the bed until she goes to sleep."

"Wouldn't she be in bed by now?" Randall asked, looking at all the houses.

"Nope, she doesn't go to bed real early for some reason," Jane shrugged, looking at the clock. It was ten-thirty. Ali was definitely still up.

"Look, Randall…" Jane started before he could get out of the car. She hadn't killed the engine just yet, "I…"

"Spit it out," Randall murmured, not intending to sound as annoyed as he had. Jane swallowed the lump in her throat, a little nervous on how to react. But if she didn't get this off her chest now… she's feel bad just up and leaving him without a goodbye.

"I just wanted to let you know that… this last month has been fun. Even though you're a major ass," she snickered, looking over at him and killing the engine, "You've probably become one of my closest friends."

"That's funny," Randall said, not bothering to hide the snicker in his own voice, "We weren't even that close half the time."

"I know," she laughed. Her giggles died after a short moment and she exited the car, waving for him to follow. Randall watched for a moment before following suit and exiting the car, being careful not to close the door too loud. Jane was halfway up the small sidewalk that led to the front door of Kate's house. He quickly caught up. Jane knew he was there, and decided to finish what she had been trying to tell him.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… you're probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Ass hole and all," she said seriously, not even looking him in the face. Randall didn't really know what to say. The situation itself was just awkward to the max, and even though she was trying to be serious he just couldn't take it that way. Randall didn't think too much of it, he'd never have to really see her again after he was home, right? So… what was he so worried about?

Once they reached the front door Jane stopped. She had a hand raised and poised to knock one second, and the next he just had no clue what hit him. Jane smacked full body into him but not with as much force as she had earlier. Her arms were locked around his middle and face buried into the bottom of his right shoulder(the good one). And only one thought was processed correctly.

_What?_

He wasn't very sure what to do. Randall swallowed the lump in his throat and hesitantly… started to hug her back.

…Okay so he wasn't really hugging her. All four hands either grabbed her shoulders or her arms, but not in a way where he was trying to pry her off or hold her in place; just sort of holding her in general. He pulled back gently so he could get a better look at her. When she complied and pulled away, letting go of him despite the fact he still had a hold on her, and beamed up at him gratefully.

Jane wasn't crying. Nor was she going to cry. But she couldn't ignore the fact that she was going to feel so… empty the minute he was gone.

_I'm going to miss you_, she thought to herself, feeling like she tortured him too much to admit that. He probably already gets it, she should lay off.

But he was still gripping her arms while they were standing on Kate's front porch. Jane looked at his arms and felt her face grow warm, suddenly taking in the heat of the situation that turned into… something else. Randall cocked his head. He didn't know what he was going to do. At all. He just wanted this moment to end so he could save himself the embarrassment later.

And for some reason, he didn't know _why_, the distance between them started to close again. He wasn't doing this. Neither was she. What in the world is going on? Randall was internally panicking. How long had it been since he was in this kind of situation?

…way too long.

And she was a _human_! Randall stopped himself, forcing himself to pull away even if it was barely half an inch. Jane stopped too, obviously coming to the same conclusion at the same time he did.

And then the door knob started turning.

Jane's head whipped to the side when she turned to face Kate, just as Randall disappeared bit by bit. Kate didn't take notice.

"You're back," her friend smiled, then gave her an annoyed glare, "Now gimme my damn keys."

Jane handed her friend the car keys she stole… along with the lap top she grabbed on her way out. Randall's grip on her arms had slipped away just a few moments ago, there was no doubt he was inside.

"Do you think you can give me a ride home?"

* * *

Jane was sentenced to a twenty-minute wait while Kate called the babysitter, who conveniently lived just across the street. But by the time Ali was sleep and sound in her bed, she was pretty confident that Randall was doing as told. She had bumped into him once or twice on accident while he was frantically searching for the girl's room, but when she pointed him in the right direction he was gone.

Sometimes it felt like he was sort of still there though.

Kate sat next to her friend on the couch while the two watched Tangled, a movie that Ali was watching before sent off to bed. Kate, admittedly, wasn't as mad as she had led on to be once Jane returned with her car. She just didn't feel like she had the time for any excitement, which Jane understood.

It was right around the part where Rapunzel was… a bit beside herself when there was a knock at the door causing Jane to jump.

"It's just the babysitter," Kate snickered, pulling herself off the couch to answer it. Jane heard Kate apologizing to the tired teen who bounded in, blonde hair up in a messy bun and makeup smeared on her eyes. The girl waved it off with a smile and ushered the two out the door after Kate slipped her a fifty; the extra thirty dollars was another apology.

All the while Jane stood next to the passenger door of the car, staring at the window that belonged to Ali's room. Kate honked her horn, causing her to jump about five feet in the air, and told her to move it. Jane murmured a 'Goodbye' to the window before climbing into the car.

Kate felt bad as it was to have the sitter come over at such a late hour. Even worse when she realized that their little road trip to Jane's house to drop her off would take a bit longer. Moments after they had left the driveway Jane quietly requested that she pull over at a gas station to grab something.

Jane was pacing a few isles with some frustration. She had never really been a drinker, but the moment called for it. She was going to need something, and a twelve back of Budweiser would do the trick. Hey, she was twenty-one, it was legal. Hell, she might as well buy ice cream on her way out.

"Beer and Ice cream?" Kate asked with the raise of an eyebrow once she caught sight of Jane's merchandise, "I didn't think you drink beer."

"I don't," Jane replied, knowing very well she's going to despise it's bitter taste when she's drinking it, "But the occasion calls for it."

"And what might this occasion be?" Kate pondered, giving her friend a sideways glance. Jane didn't want to lie to her face, but she didn't have much else to say either. So she came up with the best excuse she could come up with, that was semi-true anyway.

"The day my parents left."

The rest of the ride home was silent. At least until they exchanged short goodbyes. Once Jane had the beer and small tub of ice cream tucked under the same arm, she waved at Kate with her free hand until the car disappeared before turning back to go inside.

* * *

Randall sat ready underneath a twin-sized bed, the closet right in view straight ahead from the foot-board. He didn't exactly look ready, laying partially on his side and as close to alert as Jane's truck was as close to starting… which wasn't very close at all. He was actually more or less nervous. What was it going to be like when he got back? First off, he'd find Fungus. Despite the fact the little red guy was annoying as all hell, he was still a loyal scare assistant and might be more than happy to help him.

Might be.

And if he wasn't so compliant like Randall was hoping, scaring him into working with him again might do the trick.

The reptilian monster caught sight of his own reflection for a brief moment in a toy mirror the girl had thrown under her bed. For a second he repeated the more recent thought in his head, now frowning at the doppelganger who frowned back. He didn't feel as… okay with scaring Fungus into working for him again. Randall definitely had it set in his plans that it would happen but for some reason now he was starting to grow a conscience about it.

What had this human done to him?

He snarled silently at the mirror and shoved it under a pile of clothes and costumes which was also cast aside under the bed. Randall promised himself that once he got back home it was like this had never happened. Now more focused and alert than he was a moment ago, Randall glared with a vengeance at the closet door like it may spring open at any minute.

And it didn't move.

Still, he stayed ready. Waited about ten more minutes for it to budge at all, and yet the closet wasn't opening.

Randall frowned and rested his chin on the floor amongst the pile of clothes; they made an alright pillow. Maybe he'll just… rest his eyes for a little while to wait.

* * *

She felt like she was on top of the world… and nothing could stop her.

Jane stopped counting at three, but she was pretty sure she was half way through with her fourth, and was even more sure that she was starting to get tipsy on her second. Pretty weak for someone about Kate's stature, but Jane was smaller and didn't have her fair share of wine every now and then. In fact, Jane's only drank one beer in her life before now, and she was pretty sure that all she had was a sip.

So to get rid of her shitty mood and have something else to think about from now 'til tomorrow morning, why not drink by herself for herself?

She started out watching the scariest movie in her collection(Which wasn't very scary at all) and began to laugh at _everything_. The gore, the blood, the superficial girls hired to play their parts and the predictable, shitty quality of it all. And for some reason… it was amazing.

Jane, after a moment, got up from the couch feeling like her stomach wasn't too happy with her but not to the point of really throwing up yet. She was laughing at the clock on the wall, the bird's angry squawks, and the cat meowing for attention. But for some reason… she hasn't seen the dog yet.

Oh yeah… he was outside.

"S-O-N-I-C!" she called out his name as loud as she could, demanding the dog's attention. Jane leaned against the door frame for some support(mainly because she is lazy) and took another sip from her current can before realizing that Sonic wasn't coming. Jane made a pout-like expression, stomping out into the yard bare-footed to look for her dog.

"Where are you?" she called out, still yelling for her dog. It was dark, she could hardly see, and..

…she just tripped over something.

"Ow," she murmured, rubbing the back of her head and let out a sad 'aww' as she realized that the contents in her can had spilled due to the fall. Still, her mood didn't falter much… until she got a good look at what she tripped over.

Her breath hitched in her throat, unable to even let out a choked cry when she started to recognize the shape of what was laying in front of her.

Sonic was hardly breathing, bloody and battered laying in front of her. Jane immediately jumped to the dog's side, stroking his ears comfortingly while surveying his wounds. He was beaten pretty badly, breathing in short, fast, hollow breaths. He was completely unfocused, and didn't react to Jane when she called for his attention.

He wasn't responding. This wasn't good. She picked up the upper half of his body and tried to stand, only to fall back to the ground with a heave. He was _heavy_, and this wasn't going to be easy.

"What happened, buddy?" she asked, already starting to cry. She was so scared of what might happen, and her cell phone was inside. Even so, who would she get a hold of? Kate's asleep, and she never answers the phone when she's sleeping. There's literally n o one to call.

Not even the Ghost Busters.

With even a little more effort, Jane still hadn't managed to pick up the dead weight of her dog. What was she going to do? She let out a choked sob and sat there watching her dog die, unable to do anything. Unable to say anything.

This was most definitely the worst day of her entire life.

Oh, but it wasn't finished.

"Where's our gator?"

* * *

Randall was practically asleep when he heard something disturb him. For a moment, he dismissed it and rolled on his back, letting out a soft snore before cracking his eyes open and realized he was… still under a child's bed. Quickly he rolled back over just as the girl's butterfly lamp on her nightstand flicked on, and she laughed at the glasses her assigned monster was wearing.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked, cocking his head. Randall stared at its feet, knowing he knew them from somewhere.

"You have a mustache," she giggled, then busted out into laughter, "And a nose!"

"Oh… these? Must have grabbed the wrong ones," the monster frowned, feeling the middle nose. Randall crept in closer to get a better look, immediately blending in with his surroundings just as he was in sight.

…Fungus?

Randall had to stop himself from repeating his thoughts, almost gasping loud enough for the two to hear him. The closet was left ajar, though not by much. He'd have to wait 'til the little monster went back outside.

This was bad. Randall couldn't sit here and be quiet while Fungus recited the lamest material he had ever heard to this little girl. The monster was smarter than that, couldn't he have looked up something better?

Five minutes later and Randall thought he was going to kill himself. He sat patiently on the girl's wall, hovering just above the doorway of her closet. Fungus began moving back to the door, giving out one last punch line which the girl listened to carefully, trying to hold in giggles. He held the door open for a moment while giving out the final punch line and…

…he was through!

* * *

It was already dark as night outside but Jane swore this guy cast an eerie shadow on her. She swallowed hard and looked up at the man which she could hardly see, and recognized him instantly.

"He's home," she answered with a shaky voice, covering Sonic's body with her own in attempt to protect what was left of him, "What did you do to my dog?"

"The same thing that's about to happen to you," he growled, taking a step further. Jane didn't want to abandon Sonic but she had no choice… he probably got hurt protecting her and she wasn't going to throw herself in danger. Now the good feeling was gone and all that was left was a clumsy dizziness that made her sway slightly, but it didn't slow her down. Jane braced herself and made a fist, and in one awkward but swift moment, she had punched the man in the nose.

It wasn't her strength but surprise that had him on his back, and the new adrenaline coursing through her veins had Jane haul Sonic off the ground and sprint to the house.

She could _not_ do this moments before, the only explanation had to be her fear. Jane made it through the front door and set him down in the foyer, kissing the top of his head before shutting the door and locking it. After that, she locked everything else that could be locked, knowing very well that it wouldn't stop them.

But she had to try, right?

Jane was more than burnt out by the time she reached the middle of her house, heaving for breath. She had never run so fast in her life, but she couldn't rest yet. Not. At. All. So she did the next step in her mind: get a self-defense weapon. And what was the first thing that came to mind? A bat.

Justin played base ball a lot as a kid and naturally grew up to be twice the size of Jane at the age of sixteen, so he had to get pretty big bats. Jane high tailed it up stairs to his old room, going through the old piles of junk in his closet and just praying that she'd find something. One way or another these guys were going to pay for what they did to her dog, but a shot gun was too drastic. She didn't want charges for murder… or assault, but if they broke in first then she had every right. So after she finds a stupid bat, she'd go and find her gun just to keep it close, not really intending to use it… yet.

She was just about to give up when she reached for the top shelf in the closet. Jane couldn't see but she could feel around. After a second she wrapped her fingers around what felt like a metal pole. When she pulled it down… eureka!

Al was the one who had gotten punched.

He didn't expect it, but it did sting… a little.

"Al!"

He could vaguely make out Rick's thin features in the dark. The man was breathless from running across the yard and bent over for a second to catch his breath. Al waited patiently, though in all honesty his patience began to wear thin.

"We've tried all the doors. She locked 'em. What do we do?"

"Cut her power, and set the damn thing on fire," he ordered. The little bitch wasn't getting away with that. Frank can do whatever he wants to her later. Until that point, they're going to smoke her out.

Jane didn't expect this. She brought a first-aid kit over to Sonic and, knowing very well she wasn't a vet and didn't know how to treat him, tried putting band-aids on what she could. He was cut up badly, and had probably been bleeding for a while. Still unfocused and panting hard, the dog let out a low whimper that was barely audible and died off. Jane swallowed some of her nervousness and took the towel she had grabbed just in case, and covered him with it like a blanket.

This was all she could think of.

And then the lights in her house went out.

"Damn it," she cursed, getting up and running to the living room to grab her phone… and _another_ spoon full of ice cream.

Her battery was full… well, full enough, and she shoved it into her back pocket and hightailed it for the kitchen. She started searching frantically through the drawers for her largest kitchen knife for… why does she smell smoke?

A second later the smoke detector went off, sounding out a loud noise that made Jane recoil and hold her ears. She cursed out loud in attempt to be louder than it, but the bird was doing a better job at that than she was.

Within moments the fire outside grew to consume the entire garage. Jim stood outside with a whiskey bottle that had a rag stuck halfway in it. He looked at Rick for an okay; Rick nodded. He set the outside part of the rag on fire and waited a moment before throwing it at another part of the house, catching the front of it on fire.

Neither of them knew that Frank was already inside.

He did break the door knob that belonged to the back door, but he did it silently. After one final twist the door was open and he was in a hallway close to the kitchen. He could see the girl going through everything all of the drawers and cabinets she owned. When he figured she couldn't find what she was looking for, and let out a frustrated scream, he decided to make an appearance.

"Well what's the rush for?"

The girl froze and looked at him, grey eyes flashing with all kinds of emotions that she couldn't decide to settle on. Eventually, though probably not intentionally, she settled with fear.

Jane took a step back from the shadow that started to come close to her. Asking what they want was an obvious mistake that many girls in movies tend to make and she wasn't about to risk it. Her eyes darted to the archway that led to the stares, thinking that if she ran up there she'd be trapped. And she left the bet over by Sonic, getting out of here would be risky.

But she didn't have time to think about all of this, frozen in fear in front of a man whom she had never met in her life.

Frank on the other hand wasn't thinking about such things. He was fantasizing somewhat, standing across from her. If he had to wait a little longer he wouldn't be able to take the pressure. But he didn't say anything or make any moves… yet. Actually he surveyed what he could of her in the dark, making out a tight black tank top and a pare of Urban Camo pants, to him it was kind of cute.

That's it. Couldn't take it anymore.

Frank lunged himself at the girl who let out a surprised scream and struggled under his weight. He had her pressed into the counter, both hands trapped hers, and his mouth was venturing across her neck.

He was sick. He'd always been. But moments like these were worth it to him, even though she seemed pretty normal to someone he'd meet in a coffee shop. Her skin was so soft… compared to his own, anyway. He bit down on the base which caused her to yelp.

Jane was scared for her entire life. She was so shocked she couldn't move for a moment. Him biting her was like bringing her back to her senses… in a painful way. She struggled her lower half against him, eventually getting her heel to come up to his upper thigh, and kicked as hard as she could. The man yelped out in pain and immediately let go of her hands to catch himself. Jane darted for her gun, stumbling awkwardly in the dark to get to it. The man was right behind her, she could hear his heavy footsteps trailing after her.

When she reached what she thought was her shot gun she whipped around holding it, ready to shoot when she realized… she grabbed the bat.

The man stopped in front of her just as confused as she was, but that didn't last long. Jane quickly pulled the bat back and took a good swing at the side of his head, hoping t knock him out. It worked.

Frank was down and out when Jane realized that… her house was on fire. She stared at the flames coming down the hallway from the garage and let out a scream. What was she supposed to do now?

* * *

"Do we have a visual?"

"We're in a hall closet," a CDA agent said, poking his head out the door and began to shut it. Many other members screamed in protest when the door began to shut. Lot's of 'Don't!' and 'Don't close it!' yells sounded off, surprising the young recruit who left the door cracked open rather than closing it.

Everyone sighed with relief.

Sully's eyes scanned the room… less calmly than he was before. This caused Celia to slide away from the CEO's side… by practically twenty feet.

The hand cuffs were pulled apart effortlessly and he roared, attempting to gain Roz's attention.

"We have to go find Boo! That monster has her!"

Roz didn't flinch while Sully practically screamed in her face. If anything she slowly started to lose her patience.

"Mr. Sullivan, with all do respect," she started, wiping away what spit that had gotten on her face, "We will look for the child as soon as we have Mr. Boggs back in custody. As you can see, we are very close. So if you'll please calm down and wait just a little longer, it would be greatly appreciated."

Sully growled and was about to roar again when someone else gave out a loud scream that cut him off.

"We have a visual!" a monster cried, leaving the door slightly cracked open again, "Someone is approaching!"

The monster looked through the crack again at the warped figure due to the smoke. He could hear smoke alarms from within the house going off, and some monsters were a little worried about what smoke was leaking through the doorway.

"I think it's Randall Boggs," the same CDA agent said. Others came to his side, ready to grab the creature coming down the hall. It _did _sort of look at him… in a warped, foggy sort of way.

"Number One! Mr. Boggs is coming up the hallway!" another CDA member said. Roz nodded and they took it as a signal to capture.

* * *

When Jane was a kid, they told her to crawl on her hands and knees if she was ever in a house fire, so that she could breathe.

Jane forgot this fact, and ran straight upstairs for Snickers' cage. Right now her mission was to get what she could out of her house safely, and away from those idiots. Jane _had_ called the emergency phone line a few moments ago, but due to the fact that she lived in the _middle_ of _nowhere_, they were going to take a while.

Maybe longer than that.

She coughed loudly, feeling a little more run down than she was a second ago. That tipsy feeling that makes you so utterly happy hadn't exactly worn off yet, and she felt just a tad bit off balance. Other than that, any weakness she was having was due to the smoke.

Jane tried holding her breath and cupping her mouth and nose with her hands while she made her way up stairs. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore though. While walking down the hallway she stopped and stumbled into the wall, holding onto it for balance while she coughed.

After regaining some control of herself, Jane eventually started trudging once more. She got halfway down the hall to the room with the snake cage before she realized that she wasn't the only one in the hallway. This only dawned on her when she made it to the hall closet and felt her arms and legs being pulled in.

And she didn't do anything to stop it.

* * *

**_A/N:_** I'm getting really bad about these cliffhangers. Haha, sorry about that! So.. whew! Just so everyone knows, I've never drank before in my life and have no clue what it's like to be tipsy. All I had were a few opinions and looked up discussion boards about it. I would have made her entirely drunk but I don't think she would have lived it she was, so, a little tipsy and some dizziness had to do. Sorry if I offended any drinkers, I didn't mean to. I just don't know what I'm writing about and am making the best guess I can offer.

Next chapter will be entirely centered around the Monsters Inc world since that's where both of our beloved main characters reside. Which also means that Zack and Manny don't have anything planned well at all either. Also, she's in Monstropolis now... so where's Randall's family? She'll want to meet them... so where are they? ;) Haha, this can't end well. Well.. it will, but... oh nevermind.

Review replies are down here as always. ^-^

_**DarkraixCresselia:**_ Awkward is good. it's funny and it tortures them. x3 I'm so mean... And thanks, I figured it'd be a nice touch to have him talk in his sleep. And sorry about the bad word filter, there was probably a lot of those in this chapter. My bad. . At least they add a nice touch... kinda.. right? That has happened to me before though(sadly) and looking back now it was actually one of the funniest moments of my life. I did notice that right after I wrote it and was like 'aww'! Because no matter what story he's in, Randall's going to get crashed into. It's cute and funny but the poor guy is probably going to have a heart attack. xD I like it when Lucy does it in APM though, it's just adorable.

_**Lonelyfairy:**_ Haha, xD You turned out great, don't worry, lol. And I like that song, I'm listening to it now while I'm typing these reviews. I know it's one of his older ones but I think Lose Yourself sort of goes with it too... in a dark mood sort of way. Especially during the parts with the bad guys stepping in. Jane's a bad liar too, which is probably whys he denied it. And those hand cuffs won't hold, they break easy. Well... for people like Sully anyway. The CDA only wants everyone to stay safe but I sort of agree, even I'm looking at my own writing and am like "Sheesh guys..." xD And Kate's just a worried mom. I'm sure she'll grow out of it. =3

_**darkreflection:**_ I do love the idea of Frank attempting to rap Jane a lot. Even though it was for like, two paragraphs, I had to put it in there now that you mentioned it. Sorry Randall didn't save her though. He was so far away at the time. He'll find out what he missed on eventually though, at least Jane could sort of fight for herself... sort of... . Thank you so much for your suggestion though, really helped me plan out some of the chapter. =D

_**Mambo-Like-Dis:**_ Aww thank you! =) I'm glad you understand the mental turmoil. I hate both that and writers block, they always get in the way. =( How was this for ASAP though? Hardly a week after the update, actually this chapter took me two days to write but I took a little while to start on it. . Hope you liked it! Even though everything was sort of fast moving in this one as well...

_** BearsRUs:**_ Yeah, they grabbed the wrong person. Sadly this chapter wasn't as epic for that to be the last thing that Randall sees. As much as I'd love for Fungus and Xavier to switch sides, I'm not real sure if they will. Because Mike never turns in his paper work. Kylie and Ryan are sadly in a mental institution because they think they've gone crazy(At least I think that's where they are...). And lets see... One *lick* two *lick* Three! *Chomp!* ... The world may never know.

_**ClosetWerewolf808:**_ I almost named this one the Chapter of Death but I don't want to scare anyone into thinking that someone died. Though this isn't the real climax of the story, more or less the climax of the chapter. The real chapter of death has yet to come. ;)

_** YouSpinMeRightRound:**_ Aww, thank you! That's sort of funny considering I'm actually a straight C student... . Ahhhh anywayyy... I did write out them waking up at the same time, and then Randall waking up first, but the scene with Jane waking up first sort of... fit better than the other two. Yeah, her mom is sort of like that, which is exactly how my mom is at times with my little brother. Celia's sort of tricky to write. I mean I know she gets jealous over Mike a lot but there are scenes where she does care about the people around her nonetheless, so half the time I'm wondering if she'd be mad at Mike or gushing over him for being so 'thoughtful'. I'm glad you liked it though =) And Roz is so fun to write when she's being mean to mike. xD I can see her being this way to him simply because he never turned in his paperwork. And I'm trying my best to build up to that point... I mean they're both stubborn and it's going to be one heck of an awkward moment but I promise that in time there will be stuff like that that happens.

_** TheShiz:**_ I agree, I would be pretty offended too. Good think Jane is a little more tolerant of that kind of stuff. And yeah, even I looked at it over again and realized the CDA was going a bit overboard. But they just tried to keep everyone safe and well... Sully would break them easily. Zack... ah, is probably smart and yet not that smart all at once. But I'm pretty sure he was prepared for the CDA to get involved, which is where Manny sort of comes in handy. He can hold them off for a bit, at least.

Thankyou again guys for the awesome reviews!


	12. The Irony

**_A/N:_** Happy fourth of July those of you who reside in the United States! And for those of you who don't I wish you a good day none the less. Though for me this day has been a tad bit more frustrating than it was supposed to be, it's still a day to celebrate. Mostly for the fireworks(yes!) and the carnival that comes to town and runs during them. Enough of that though...

I would have put this up sooner but I figured with a Holiday coming up, it could wait. Not to mention work has gotten in the way somewhat. But the tension and angst in this chapter probably scores a 9.2 on the Richter Scale(does that make sense?). So as a present to myself, I'm now going to go purchase myself a Gir(Invader Zim) umbrella because it's going to rain a lot this week. Hope you guys are having a good day and that you enjoy this chapter!

**_Disclaimer:_** I do not own Monsters Inc. All I have left is Jane now. Everyone else kinda... well... anyway. Enjoy the story! =D

* * *

His head hurt. A lot. He felt as if he was going to throw up. And he wasn't where he remembered being… which was inside the girl's house.

First off, when they followed her home one night to make sure where she lived, Frank never expected it to be a randomly huge house in the middle of nowhere. Second, if Al would have told him that he'd set the damn house on fire, while he was in it, he wouldn't have tried to go retrieve her himself.

But since the only entertainment the group had to offer that morning was drink, he was also wanting to have his way. If he knew now what he didn't know back when he had first accepted this offer with Al, he would have called it off. Especially once he realized that the bitch could fight back. Most of them couldn't, so he definitely wasn't expecting it. But now?

He just wanted to go home.

Frank sat up and looked at the house that was now enveloped in a raging fire(courtesy of Jim and Rick) and started to look around to see if they had caught the girl.

None of the men wanted to try to go inside and look for her, and the broad wasn't coming out. Al stomped his foot and screamed curses at the top of his lungs, watching the place fall apart.

In short, she was probably dead and Al didn't get the exact revenge he wanted.

"Hey, didn't you want something like this anyway? You planned on burning the house down when we were done!" one of the men shouted just as Al threw his hat on the ground and continued screaming. The biggest of them paused and turned to face the rest of them, baring a snarl that would make Medusa turn to stone.

"We still don't know where that gator is and we just killed the only person who knows!"

"It doesn't matter, Al!" Frank growled while attempting to get up into a sitting position, "She's gone and so is the damn house. Your get rich quick scheme by sellin' skins isn't goin' nowhere. Personally I think it's time you did something else to earn money."

Al zeroed in on Frank slowly while the man spoke, obviously not hearing a word he had said. But Frank didn't seem too phased by the attempt to intimidate him and continued.

"Your family can't live forever in such a small place, Al! Just give up and get a real job."

Once he reached Frank Al picked him up by his shirt collar and pulled back a fist, ready to punch him. Frank snarled back at him, beckoning for him to do it. To his disappointment, Al dropped him back on the ground and walked away, shouldering past the few men standing in his way.

* * *

Randall didn't come out of his camouflage even after Fungus had sent the door away. The monster stayed hidden in the shadows underneath the desk across from his station, where his laugh assistant rolled his one eyeball at the monster. His laugh assistant didn't look real happy to be here. Fungus, on the other hand, was having a ball. He switched back to his normal glasses and walked with a dance-like strut to his step.

"Hey I have to take a bathroom break," he said to his assistant while taking off towards the locker rooms, "I'll be back in a few."

Fungus whistled slightly while he walked, feeling almost as light as a feather. The CDA was bringing Randall back, he was almost finished with the Scream Extractor, and today was just an over all great day. So long as he didn't notice Randall's invisible form following him cautiously, it would stay this great.

"Hey, Chris!" Fungus greeted cheerfully as he waved to a fellow laugher. The monster waved back and continued his flirty conversation with a female co-worker, probably an assistant.

Eventually their surroundings changed from a brightly lit hallway to a dim locker room, which was nowhere near as populated as the hallway they were just in. Randall considered jumping at him now with a vengeance, but decided better of it while watching him make a bee line for the stalls. The last thing he wanted was Fungus' piss all over his feet.

Moments passed by and Fungus kicked the door to the stall back open, whistling the same tune he was seconds ago. Man he must have really felt great about himself, Randall realized while zeroing in on his target.

Fungus was washing his hands but just as he turned around to reach for the paper towel dispenser, something huge and purple blocked his path, appearing out of nowhere.

"Guess who's back?" Randall asked gruffly, his face mere inches from the smaller monster's. Fungus gulped and froze for a minute in embarrassment, so scared for the moment that he just… lost control.

"You have got to be kidding me. You just used the damn bathroom!" Randall cursed, jumping back and away as if he were dodging hot lava. Fungus looked like he wanted to die, shaking in fear so badly that his glasses almost fell off his face. He was just surprised… mostly. Just surprised. And embarrassed… _really _embarrassed. What was the poor guy supposed to do?

The first thing that came to mind.

"TWENTY-THREE NINETEEN!" He screamed as loud as his lungs would allow.

* * *

Wow… this was awkward.

The minute the door closed behind the agents who had retrieved Randall, the red light died as Roz had predicted it would. It took a few seconds for the smoke to clear but until that point, officers who were also CDA members began yelling and reciting what they were supposed to.

"Randall Boggs, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain…"

"That's not Randall."

Everyone stared at Sully like he had just shattered someone's religious belief. A moment ago he about lost his cool and now he was staring, completely sober, at the figure caught in all four hands of one CDA member, hardly struggling against its restraints. Sully repeated himself to everyone who was staring at him, nodding his head in the direction of the creature.

Sure enough, once the smoke cleared, the creature was revealed to be a very tired, heaving, out of breath…

"Human!" the monster restraining it cried, immediately letting go of it. The unfamiliar creature fell on all fours, coughing and taking in each breath of fresh air like it was blessing. Everyone around her scattered into one large circle around her, screaming in fear and anger, all yelling out 'Twenty three nineteen!'

Roz, as usual, wasn't phased by this at all. Instead she looked around at all of the members like they were… well… five years old. Celia gripped Mike's arm and stood somewhat behind him(like he could protect her anyway…) and Sully was still staring at her somewhat amazed.

The huge monster slowly approached the adult human, more or less curious because… this was the first adult human he had ever encountered. It was the first one any of them encountered. But it's not the first time one has gotten into the monster world. So why everyone was freaking out was beyond him.

Everyone's panicking died once they realized what the CEO was doing. They either shut up and covered their eye pieces like they were at a scary movie, or they watched with awe. Either way, the new silence was comforting, and Sully finally closed the distance between himself and the… human.

He assumed she was female while studying the shape of her body hunched over on the ground. Her clothes were somewhat feminine too. He inched backwards a little bit when she coughed again, this time a sickening sound rumbling through her chest. It caused her to drop on all fours and by the time her coughing fit was over, she spat what was bothering her from the back of her throat onto the cement floor. A few deep breaths and she was ready to go, rearing back up to look at Sully in the face.

She opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it and hunched over again. Her body shook violently with the next few coughs she had to offer before finally…

…she threw up.

Sully jumped back so that he wouldn't step in any of the puke. The girl was having issues holding back her hair, the bangs that framed her face falling back into place when she pulled what she could out of the way. She spat out the remaining bile that had exited her body, ignoring the displeased cries of the monsters around her.

After another moment of dry-heaving, she recoiled from the puddle of bile and let out a soft sob, doing her best to keep it silent at the very least .

"My house… is on fire," she murmured, running her fingers through her hair, "I'm pretty sure I just almost got raped," she stated again, more or less to herself to be sure, "And I'm now in a room… full of monsters… and I'm not even sure how I got here."

"Through a closet," Roz answered her, despite the fact that she was only half-paying attention.

"Number one we have to send her back," the CDA member standing closest to her whispered. Roz gave him a sideways glance and shrugged.

"I told you guys the door breaks after one use."

The girl took a few deep breaths and ran her hands down her face, now focusing on the monster in front of her. She gave him a good look from his ivory horns all the way down to the claws on his toes. She wasn't sure if he was a threat, but didn't look too much like it. In all honesty though, right now even if her safety should be the first thing she was thinking about… something else caught her attention instead.

"Randall's under arrest?" she asked him quietly and cocked her head to the side. The expression on her face told him that something had officially dawned on her and caught her attention.

"You know Randall?"

"Yeah… I was helping him get back."

"And you're not freaked out by any of us?" Sully asked. She took another good look around her and shrugged, her mouth twisting into a confused frown. After a moment she slowly stood, much to her body's protest. The second she was balanced on her own two feet she gave Sully another glance, giving him a once-over.

"Kinda," she admitted, "Are you the one who illegally banished him?"

Sully mirrored her confused frown with his own before nodding a 'yes' to her question. He could hear a frustrated huff of breath come from her.

"Then shouldn't you be the one arrested?"

"Now wait just a second there!" Mike growled, pulling from Celia's grasp and stepping up beside his best friend.

"Randall was the criminal in this. We had no other choice than to banish him. He tried to kill us!"

"He wouldn't do such a thing!" The girl replied exasperated. Sully frowned deeper, feeling more and more sorry for her as this went on. Randall must have really manipulated her if she was going to stand up for him like this. He didn't take a minute to stop Mike though.

"He would too! Look kid-"

"I'm twenty-one."

"Kid. Randall is under arrest for attempted murder on several occasions, and for kidnapping a human child."

She faltered in her response that she had ready once Mike had said that last part. Her face flushed with embarrassment and anger at the sudden realization that he might have lied to her.

"He… didn't," she murmured more or less to herself. Not to deny what the smaller green creature had said but to herself. He didn't… lie to her, or use her, to tell her all those things just so he could get home… did he?

"And his family?"

"Randall Boggs has no family," Roz chimed in, coming up to stand on Sullivan's other side. The two on either side of the largest monster glared at her, while Sully only shook his head and averted his gaze elsewhere.

She hugged herself, lowering her eyes from all three of them and shuddering in attempt to fight any tears threatening to spill. The girl bit her lip and flinched when Mike spoke, a little softer this time.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Jane," she breathed.

"Well, Jane… welcome to Monstropolis."

She let out a choked breath at this comment, wondering if he was just saying this to make her laugh or to actually be an ass. Jane looked at him dead in the eye and glared full on, fighting the snarl that she so wanted to give him, "What's your proof?"

"Proof?" Mike faltered. Sully did too a little bit in his mind, staring at her a little bewildered. She still didn't believe them?

"Their proof is me," Roz said evenly, "I am the head of the CDA, and have assigned my groups to retrieve Randall from the human world. You have not helped anyone who needed it," she said coldly, slithering forward but being careful to avoid the puke still on the ground. Jane inched away from the… monster(is it a boy or a girl?) and decided she'd ask that question later. She bit back any remark she had prepared and listened to the creature as it talked.

"The court is not only waiting for Randall's statement in the case, but they are also waiting to put him behind bars. There are more eyewitnesses to his crimes than however many lies he probably told you. Is that proof enough?"

Jane swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, trying again not to cry. Jesus, what was wrong with her? She took in a deep breath, still not exactly wanting to believe anyone right now. Not even Randall.

"What exactly did he do?"

* * *

"What do we do with him?" the only CDA member who wasn't currently restraining the wanted monster asked.

"I guess we take him to Number One," another shrugged before being pulled at by Randall's tail. Fungus left the scene as soon as the members showed up and tackled him, leaving Randall here to fend for himself. He couldn't believe it for a second. His own scare assistant sold him out! Okay… so he kind of understood why Fungus would do such a thing.

But still… how could he?

Randall growled and snapped at the monsters currently holding him before one pulled on his fronds, immediately making him curse out loud in pain.

"Hey, hey! OW! Watch the tail," he growled, still fighting to get free. Each monster had a hold on him and it was very hard to fight back. And the pain his restraints were causing made it hard to concentrate so he could camouflage and confuse the CDA.

This officially sucked.

"You sure you know where we're going?' one asked the member who was currently walking ahead of the group.

"Of course I do," the member in question retorted while turning towards the office areas. Randall snarled at no one in particular, still struggling to get free. Once he saw Sullivan, or Wazowski for that matter, it didn't matter _how_ many members were there to restrain him.

They were fucking _dead_.

He calmed down some when they reached the doors to the simulation room. They had to be in there waiting for him. Just _had _to. Once they were about five feet away from the doors, Randall lost it. His tail whipped around the ankle of the guard to his right and pulled his feet right out from under him. The one on his left began pulling hard on his arms in attempts to keep him from attacking the fallen CDA member. He cried out in pain remembering that was his bad shoulder, and punched him in the stomach with his lower fist on reflex.

The two behind him that were helping to restrain every now and then didn't expect it, and before they could do anything about it Randall had already grabbed one around the neck with his tail and slammed his face into the ground while pushing the other's head as hard as he could into the wall. There was a sickening crack once the member made contact with the hard surface, and he was down.

One left.

He turned around to see the final one charging at him. Randall crawled onto the wall to dodge the charge and once he was within range, body slammed him from the wall he was perched on into the opposite wall. Randall backed up and surveyed his work with an angry glare. Served them right.

"Sullivan!" He yelled at the doors to the simulation room and kicked him open. He charged angrily at the CEO, taking little notice to how none of the members in the room attempted to stop him.

"You are _so_ dead!"

"Randall, buddy, how are you!" Mike smiled, immediately taking cover behind Sullivan. Randall growled in reply and glared at Sullivan who didn't do anything back, just stood there and standing his ground.

He was about to pounce when something, or some_one_ for that matter, stepped in his way. In his moment of blind rage he didn't recognize the small frame of Jane who stood between him and his chance at revenge, now understanding why none of the members had defended the CEO. Roz stood off to the side, ordering the members to sit still for a moment.

"J-Jane?" Randall faltered, stopping just a foot from her. Jane sneered in reply, hands clenched into fists at her sides, body trembling due to the fact that she was just so… angry. It dawned on him that she had probably found out everything he told her wasn't exactly… true.

Okay. So he lied to her. A lot. What was she going to do? Beat the piss out of him?

It was almost as if she read his mind.

Before he could utter another word to her Jane had punched him square in the face, right between his eyes.

"You kidnapped a _child_," she growled. Randall rubbed the area she hit with one hand and caught her in coming fist with the other. Jane ripped her wrist free from his grasp and took a step back, glaring at him.

"You tried to murder two _completely_ innocent monsters… because you were jealous of them?"

She didn't make any other moves to hit him after that. Randall didn't bother to listen to the words and curses she spat at him. He only stared at her mean, angry, offensive expression because he knew that behind all that she was only trying not to lose it. Jane screamed more accusations at him, most of which were true(the others that weren't were probably Mike's doing) and finally fell silent.

Everyone in the room watched either amused, scared, or hardly cared about what was happening. But due to Roz's sudden amusement with this girl they were all ordered not to move. Mike's eye was wide open, mouth agape in a slight smile that showed most of his teeth, with Celia right behind him covering her mouth with her right tentacle. She wasn't smiling, but her jaw did drop.

Sully was actually about to say something to calm her down before he looked at Randall and faltered. He saw at least twelve different emotions cross the reptilian monster's face before settling into a cold stare that almost seemed to stare right through Jane. One of those emotions… no, wait, four of them looked very familiar. He'd seen… Mike look at Celia like that at least once, hasn't he? Sully's nose wrinkled in thought before he decided that he'd better sit this one out.

"You lied to me," Jane breathed, now out of breath from her yelling. She was _pissed_. She had yelled and screamed all that had been on her mind only for Randall to stand there and just stare at her. Like he hadn't heard a word she had said, or even cared.

But he did, and he only kept that much to himself. Randall surveyed her for a moment, wondering if he should trust himself not to attack her on the spot. Given he did lie to her, and he did do all of those things… but what in the world makes her think she can just punch him in the face, attempt to beat the crap out of him(given he had enough control not to return the favor), and get away with it? She was degrading him in front of the very monster he had wanted to kill and right now he couldn't even bring himself to take his attention from her to do so.

"I did lie to you," Randall admitted with the flick of his tail. Jane's eyes flashed with several different levels of rage before she bared all of her teeth and let out a frustrated sound. She crossed the little distance there was between them in a quick attempt to shove at him before he caught her and held her still.

"I did all of those things you just accused me of."

Jane realized she wasn't getting out of this position any time soon, no matter how hard she tried. She hung her head low so she could avoid his gaze.

"But why?" she half whispered from her trapped position, hearing him take in a deep breath.

"I'm not sure," he answered honestly, shaking his head and giving Sullivan a calm glance, somewhat embarrassed of his current situation. What else was he supposed to say? That he lied to her because he was actually a little scared of her? Scared that she would have turned him loose in the woods to die?

"You have absolutely nothing here, Randall," she continued softly, "Why would you want to come back?"

"You keep asking me stupid questions that I don't know the answer to," he growled to her just as soft as she had asked her question, "I don't know why I did what I did. All I know is I want what was rightfully mine… almost mine," he corrected himself after a second. Jane scoffed, whipping her head up to face him.

"You can't have that," she said a little louder, "Your life wasn't normal, you spent… two years working on a machine that would have gotten you nowher-"

"You don't know that!" Randall cut her off, growling in her face now, "I did what I thought was right at the time. You've only just heard the story and not even my half of it."

"I've heard enough to know that you have completely betrayed me," Jane retorted, trying harder to pull away, "I thought you were my friend. I thought I could trust you with anything, I wasn't scared of you at all. What changed? Who did I spend a month with?"

Randall faltered for a moment while she talked, forgetting that there were other monsters around them. For just a split second, it was just them and no one else. But he was quickly brought back to what was happening due to Jane going on again.

"Well? Who was it that I had been staying with?" she demanded angrily, "Someone who had been trying to get home to his family? Or a lying, conniving, _fake_ who's only interest is getting revenge on someone who still, even after what you did to him, wants to _help_ you!"

As her small angry speech progressed, Jane became progressively louder and louder. By the time she had spoken the last few words her voice had devoured a good majority of the silence currently in the room. Randall's sneer grew nastier with each name she had called him and for a moment his grip on her arms tightened.

"I told you I don't _fucking_ know!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Jane stiffened for a moment, maybe in fear, he wasn't sure, but for the moment he didn't really care either. Randall lowered his head slightly to become eye-level with hers, glaring into their grey color like he could read them. Jane mirrored his studying expression, which on her looked more like an angry stare, and more or less just focused on the color of his eyes.

Seconds felt like hours in that short amount of time but neither could hardly take it. Jane wanted to punch him in the face again, and Randall wanted to…

…well he didn't know exactly what he wanted to do.

Randall bared his teeth angrily, namely at himself, and pulled Jane into him. She had hardly any time to react. Within seconds he had all four arms wrapped around her tight enough to keep her immobile, but soft enough for her to feel comfortable as well.

Jane's first thought?

Oh. My. God.

Her face felt as red as a tomato and she was thankful that he couldn't see it from their current position. After a second of confusion she realized that… she didn't want to fight anymore. Jane rested her head against his chest for a moment and closed her eyes.

"No," she said softly, pushing herself away, "No you can't.. don't… I can't," she murmured pulling back and away from him. Jane was completely out of his gasp by the time she caught the… actually hurt expression on his face. She frowned at him and shook her head, backing away from him a little more.

"You'll lie to me again," she sighed and turned around to face Sullivan, "Can I go home now?"

Sully rubbed the back of his neck and avoided her gaze, opening his mouth to reply. But Roz cut him off.

"Actually we have bigger plans until we are able to send you home," Roz replied, "And we'll actually be too busy to turn you in until we are finished here. So you two will be kept in our custody for a little while."

"What?" Jane cried, "Why can't I go home?"

"The door broke," Roz replied, slithering past her and Randall.

"You five," Roz said, addressing the group she was now standing before. The five members, who were actually all on their cell phones, stood straight as if they hadn't been doing anything the entire time. Roz waited a moment until she had all of their attention before giving them a once-over.

"I want you to handcuff Boggs and keep him restrained until further notice, while keeping an eye on the girl. Don't let either of them out of your sight."

She turned around and gave the pile of bile still on the floor another glance, "And clean that up while you're at it."

"You're assigning us babysitters!" Jane growled, feeling so defenseless. Randall nodded in some agreement but was more or less worried about the handcuffs. That didn't sound too appealing at the moment.

"That's because you two have been acting like babies," Roz replied, giving both of them an annoyed glance, "I'm getting out of all of this girl-drama and angst before I have my period," she muttered sounding even more annoyed than the look she had given the two.

* * *

"One of my sources have just informed me that there's another human in Monstropolis. You know anything of it?" Zack's voice asked through the speaker at the pay phone. Xavier had been walking by the small area of phones the company had owned when one of them started to ring. Cautiously, but knowing very well who it was, Xavier had answered it.

And for some reason that being the first thing Zack said didn't sound too good.

"I've never heard anything," Xavier denied smoothly, trying not to falter due to nervousness. In all honesty, he didn't, which was a shocker to hear from Zack in the first place. But if Zack so much as suspected that the monster hadn't been completely honest with him, he'd definitely pay for it.

"Didn't expect you to," Zack shrugged, "But it will definitely come in handy. I want you to have Fungus assist you in retrieving it."

"Um… why?"

"Sullivan denying my business proposal was predicted. Whether or not it worked, it was still my first move. If we can get our hands on that human we won't need to directly harm the kid to persuade them."

Xavier scoffed, "And since when did you care about it?"

"I don't," he smiled, "But an adult human can actually understand the situation. Given it's probably best for the child not to know that it's really been kidnapped, it's still fun when your prisoner spats insults at you that you can easily blow out of the water."

Zack didn't speak for a few seconds wondering if Xavier had a reply at all. Finally the orange monster sighed an 'okay' and affirmed that he would do as told. Like he had a choice in the matter anyway. Just as he was hanging up the pay phone Fungus briskly rounded the corner, almost crashing into the other.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Xavier said though it didn't come out any friendlier than his mood. At this point Xavier _knew_ that Fungus would flip his lid after he was about to tell him about the human. And if Fungus wasn't already in a good mood than this was just going to be a long night.

"I did," Fungus mumbled, slapping himself out of his little trance and straightening his glasses, "You okay?"

"Actually… no. Zack needs us to do something for him. Both of us."

"And that would be…?"

And here comes the hard part.

* * *

"So what do you look like under there?"

"Classified," the agent Jane was currently addressing replied, handing her the cup of coffee she had requested. Randall sat across the room with two agents on his sides, staring at her like he could set her on fire at will. She seemed… so normal. She was pushing her emotions back as far as she could and for the moment Randall sort of envied her for such a talent. His fuse was too short to pull off a stunt like that and even so, it was obvious she was just as disgruntled as he.

"Oh come on. It's not like you have rotting flesh or anything."

"Actually, I do," The agent said back with a shrug, leaning against the counter. Jane was sitting on said counter top with a blanket(supplied by the CDA's rescue kit) which she had to pause in holding onto to take the coffee mug gratefully. But after his last comment she looked a little sorry, not realizing that she probably had just hurt his feelings.

"I'm kidding," the agent added after seeing her look. Jane snorted softly and took a long sip of the black muck in her mug. The texture wasn't all that… amazing, but the taste wasn't too bad. It tasted like any other coffee she had made in her own home, just clumped together in a way that sort of resembled mud.

"So why are we hiding out here?" Randall grumbled looking at the surroundings of the all too familiar break room.

"Where else are we gonna put you?" the agent to his left shrugged. The one on his right did as well while continuing for the other, "All of our vehicles are for member access only. Even though you're a guest here," he said motioning to Jane, "you're still discriminated against. We can't have you anywhere else hardly."

"Well where's all the other members?" Jane asked through the mug as she took a sip. The member next to her shrugged.

"I'm afraid that's classified as well."

"Why?" she pouted after realizing she had drank all the contents in her cup.

"Besides that," the same agent continued, "We were ordered to keep you two together. And since Boggs is not allowed anywhere near the CEO, we have to keep you two restrained here."

"What if we don't _want_ to be together?" Randall shot back, making Jane jump. The girl gave him a glare that only hid the pained sting she felt from his retort.

"Shouldn't you be in jail already, Child Molester?"

"Wha…? I didn't molest anyone!"

"But you kidnapped a child!" she shot back.

"Enough!" All the members yelled at once, silencing the two. Neither broke the gaze locked on each others' eyes, both letting out a frustrated huff of breath. After a moment Jane closed her eyes and shook her head, as if fighting back tears, and looked elsewhere.

All the creatures, including the human, turned to the doorway to the break room, watching a small red monster scream while running up and down the hallway while yelling frantically, "Twenty-three nineteen! Twenty-three nineteen!" over and over again.

Randall thought he had recognized him for a split second but didn't get a good look. The creature moved too fast for his gaze to follow and eventually he had given up on trying to see. He then focused on the three CDA members who were trying to figure out what to do.

Jane was just as confused and awaited their reaction to such a thing just as patiently as Randall had. Neither had moved, and the monster had continued screaming for help while running through the halls.

"Why isn't anyone else taking care of it?" One of the members growled. The one who had spoken hoisted himself from his position on the chair, exiting the room with his fists clenched at his sides. Once he was out of sight, there was silence. The screaming had stopped and no one heard anything.

All four people in the room waited patiently for the return of the missing CDA member. And after a short amount of time there was a struggled yelp and a slam. Jane cringed up further onto the counter as it that would protect her, obviously growing afraid of her current situation. Randall only grew more annoyed that he couldn't move, saying as though all four of his ankles were handcuffed to the legs of the chairs around him. He was, for the most part, immobile and there wasn't much that could be done about it saying as though said chairs were welded to the ground under the office carpet.

The CDA members had acted differently though. Those remaining bolted out the door to help their fellow comrade only for the entire area to fall silent again.

Randall was slightly struggling with his restraints when he heard a muffled whimper coming from Jane. He automatically froze and turned to look at her huddled position on the counter, hugging herself tightly under the blankets. She looked absolutely horrified and despite the fact that he almost loathed her for the moment he still wanted to be able to make her feel… not bad.

So he started struggling harder despite the fact that he won't get free.

Jane hid her face behind the blanket and shook violently, trying hard to control herself. She wasn't having such luck with that though. After a moment of hiding and pretending to just be a random pile of laundry on the counter(which it was obvious she wasn't), she heard a loud '_thud_' and Randall yelp in surprise.

"Ow," the lizard monster said, his head swaying somewhat from the oncoming dizziness. He didn't black out right away, but after a moment he started to go limp.

"That… hurt…" he mumbled before passing out completely.

Jane took a huge inhale of breath, trying hard not to scream or seem afraid, but when she saw the size of the monster who had attacked Randall she knew very well she didn't stand a chance. So she did the most logical thing she could think of when she realized that said creature was now closing the distance between them.

She tried to make a break for it.

* * *

**_A/N:_** So there will be more tense moments in the story from here, spaced out a little bit but definitely there.

Um... Hope I didn't offend anyone with the 'period' comment from Roz. I just figured she wouldn't appreciate the Soap-Opera moment so much, and I had seen a comment like that before but it was from a male(I totally forgot what movie I have seen it in...) and thought I'd throw it in there. Roz saying it fit the most though.

Glad some of you liked the idea for a sequel! I'll start on it after this story is done, but not exactly right away. I have some of the plot figured out but there's a few gaps I need to fill for it, which will be worked on later near the end of this story.

A lot more Manny and Zack next chapter. And Boo for sure. Hope you guys liked it! And now for review replies.

_**DarkraixCresselia:**_ Really sorry about your Australian Shepherd, those are very pretty dogs. Sadly though Jane will be reflecting on them in a later chapter namely because well... she knows they did die, and she's probably going to blame herself. I have no clue what she'll be thinking until I write her out. xD And yeah it was those that he put on in the aftermath. I couldn't think of much for him to do other than that, saying as though he was only being funny in the end and that was the only thing he did. I have now clue how his sense of humor is. xD Glad you liked it!

_**Oriana:**_ Her reaction was definitely a little tricky to write, because I couldn't figure out how I wanted her to react... so I made her puke. I need a vacation so bad, I hope yours was awesome! And YES! CAKE! I love cake... ;~; tears of joy~

_**Lonelyfairy:**_ I've never been to an anime convention but they always look so fun! Really glad you like all of the drama and hope this blew that drama-meter sky high. Not too much humor in it other than Mike smiling at Randall getting punched in the face by a girl. I'm quite sure he'd been wanting someone to do that for a while... Sorry for hurting your throat though. At least you were smiling throughout the pain, right? xD Hope you loved this chapter!

_**Elemental Queen:**_ She's not away from all the freaks yet. Sadly for Jane they just keep on coming. Thank you for the awesome reviews! Hope to keep you reading my story! ;)

_**ClosetWerewolf808:**_ Haha thanks! There's a chapter coming up that I will most likely name the Chapter of Death. But there's a few more chapters to go before that one comes. ^^

_**darkreflection:**_ I didn't think about that til' I read your review. So he made it out okay. Even though Al almost beat the crap out of him in the end. x3

_**BearsRUs:**_ I assure you they will kiss eventually. I just like torturing them all the way up until that very moment. And yeah, sadly Jane has lost a lot. I wonder if she'll even _want_ to go back... thank you for the amazing review!

_**Mambo-Like-Dis:**_ Haha, I wonder what's better. Her being in the monster world in general or the first impressions between her, Sully, and Mike? She and Mike aren't going to get a long very well after this all clears up, and it's going to be so fun to write.

_**YouSpinMeRightRound:**_ Don't feel bad. I'm a horrible reviewer myself and I understand that work gets in the way of some things. Gotta make that dough, right? Really glad you loved the last chapter so much and I hope that all of the drama is enough to help you release some of the tension. Knowing that it's about to get worse sort of helps too, right? Hehe, I like Ice cream. And figuring that Jane had to be a little intoxicated anyway so that her get-away wouldn't be as graceful as it could have been, I figured I'd have a little fun with it. Hope to see a review form you soon! ^^


	13. Lucky Duck

**_A/N:_** Hi guys! This one took forever... I had some serious writers block going and Rango came now so there's no real excuse as to why I delayed this chapter for so long. By the way... Bill Nye the Science Guy totally does Rattlesnake Jake's voice in Rango. I was so... I don't know, surprised when I read that. Figured I'd share it to all those Rango fans that are reading this and didn't already know that. Bill Nye was my elementary school's favorite thing to play when they felt that a video would explain something better than they could. He was amazing.

Just forewarning, I know I said in earlier chapters that I don't know German. But the translator I had been using didn't want to actually translate any words or sentences I had wanted to use for Manny at all this chapter, so I switched from that to Google. So if you know German don't trust whatever I have written in here as what he really says. As usual I'll put the translations I used at the bottom of the chapter before review replies.

And one more note: This chapter has a lot of time jumping. Parts will seem very confusing at one point or another but it's simply because it either happened hours earlier or hours after. Don't try to think too hard when some things seem a little off; I wrote most of this very late at night and only skimmed through it once to correct and re-write a few parts.

**_Edit:_** Okay, sorry guys! I gave you the wrong info. It wasn't Bill Nye who did Jake's voice. The website I read that off of was wrong, which I guess the names can be easily confused but it was actually Bill Nighy. For some reason a lot of people out there are getting the two mixed up and I was one of them. I apologize for that and thank you **jla2snoopy** for pointing that out. Again, sorry for that. xD Hope I didn't get anyone's hopes up.

**_Disclaimer:_** I do not own Monsters Inc but it is fun to borrow them simply because they are not mine. =) Jane however, is all I have left now so I do own her.

* * *

"I specifically ordered you to close off the hallways that led to the break room you three were watching them in."

"We did! I have no clue how those monsters got in, I could hardly even see them. All we know is that once we came to, Boggs was passed out and the girl was nowhere to be found."

Sully paced back and forth in his office, his small work laptop open and ready for any updates from 531, who was back in the conference room trying to configure a few files that _might_ lead to the location the call came from. As far as he knew, the small CDA member had found hardly any information in his search and the more he had to wait, the more impatient he had gotten.

Now there were two humans missing in Monstropolis, one of which he himself would die for, and they had no clue where either of them were. Roz didn't want to assume the same kidnapper of 'Boo' had also taken Jane, but there was a gut feeling that the missing humans had a sort of connection. But if they only wanted Boo to bribe him for a ransom, then why would her same kidnapper want Jane as well?

He had no sense in his mind right now to answer any of these questions correctly. Nor did he have any patience left to clam himself down willingly. So James P. Sullivan kept to himself while pacing behind his desk, keeping his mind as blank as he could force it to be and listened to Roz's growing anger with the three CDA members responsible for Jane's disappearance.

"Where is Randall now, then? You didn't leave him unattended, did you?"

"He was knocked out by a blow to the head. Our paramedics took him to one of the medical vans to check for any concussions."

Roz turned away from them, dismissing them and then turned to Sullivan who had stopped pacing and now stared somewhat horrified at the screen of his laptop. At first she had thought that he had lost all sanity and was about ready to take it out on his computer. But after a second thought she decided it was a little more than that.

"Mr. Sullivan, do you need a moment alone?"

Sully turned the laptop away from himself to face Roz and replay the video he had just watched, completely unsure of how to react.

* * *

So common sense was never a thing that she had possession of. One perfectly good example would be the fact that, rather than getting herself out of her home safely, she worried about her animals first. Jane had plenty of time to go over this while sitting in a very dark, unfamiliar SUV that was by _far _bigger than any car she had been in. And it wasn't real nice either.

It didn't matter how nice her new acquaintance was when tying her up and putting her in the van. It didn't matter about how he apologized over and over again and explained that he had to or his family was in danger. The fact of the matter was that Jane did not appreciate being kidnapped. Not after they had hit Randall like that.

But it didn't matter now. She wasn't strong, she wasn't as fast as she use to be, and she certainly wasn't capable of handing a situation like this. Jane was weak, she knew this and it took her several moments to suck in her pride and accept it.

When they had left Jane wasn't so sure if it was still light outside or if it had been darker. But it was certainly night now, and she was a little thankful for it. She preferred it to be dark, so that she couldn't easily see her surroundings. It made her less focused on what was going on around her and allowed her to go over the events that led up to now.

So again… no common sense… what so ever.

Jane never had it when she was a child, and she never gained it from that point all the way up to adult-hood. Instead of calling for help like she should have back at her house, she shoved her phone in her back pocket, which was still there. And even when Randall had been knocked out, and Jane realized that either way she was going to be taken, she still tried to make a run for it. This ended with about six or seven tentacles wrapping completely around her body like a set of ropes, making her entirely immobile. One even covered her mouth to muffle her scream before she could even let one out.

What was worse? She could have protected him.

He was stuck to a chair, had no defense. Jane was perfectly capable of getting off her butt and at least luring them away from him… that is, if she knew that it was her they were after. Either way she felt more guilty than usual, and more sorry for herself than before. Even before coming to that realization she had to swallow the fact that her failed attempts to do something good still ended badly. She couldn't save her pets, she couldn't even handle a fire situation right, and Jane certainly couldn't do anything else to get back on her feet. Whatever these monsters wanted… sadly they were going to get it. But what that was scared her more than the fact that she was kidnapped at all.

After a few more moments of thinking to herself, calling herself an idiot and mentally kicking the crap out of herself, Jane caught a bit of the conversation taking place in the front of the van.

"I still can't believe it!" one of the monsters yelled.

"Fungus, calm down!" the other replied. Jane closed her eyes, listening to their conversation since it had to be more interesting than the Pity-Party she was having in the back seat. The monster that was apparently called Fungus was heard scoffing, then shuffled in his seat. She couldn't exactly see him, and couldn't say anything due to the fact that there was a gag in her mouth. So all she could do was just listen.

"How about you tell me more! What does Zack want with that kid? And why do we need this human too? I can't believe we've had it the entire time! What do they have to do with the Scream Extractor?"

"He'll tell you himself," the still unidentified driver replied calmly, "But the sooner we get there the better. Manny is becoming impatient, he's been wanting a new toy since you're off hands anyway. Not to mention that Zack's buddy is there waiting to lift the rest of the machine for you."

"And yet you hide the fact that we've had _humans_ this entire time. HUMANS! You have any idea how much trouble we will get in once they find us?"

"_If_ they find us," the other corrected. Fungus paled at the thought and turned to look out the window. He was silent for a while and it took Jane a moment to realize that the conversation was over. The rest of the ride was silent and seconds felt like hours. After a while she decided it was just best that she didn't think at all so she'd stop making herself depressed.

The driver slammed on the brakes causing the van to stop almost immediately. While the monsters in the front had seat belts, Jane didn't, and flew forward with her back facing the two seats currently in use. Her impact caused Fungus' seat to fly forward, his face hitting the dash and staying there after a moment before processing the pain that he had just endured.

"Ow."

_Ditto_, Jane thought sadly, curling up into a pained ball on the floor of the van. That didn't feel good at all. She let out an audible groan that caused the driver to look back apologetically, but he didn't say anything. Fungus pushed himself from the dash and straightened the seat out before turning and giving the driver a glare. His glasses were now crooked but he didn't bother to straighten them out yet, hoping they would add to his annoyed look.

"Really, Xavier?"

"We're here," he shrugged in reply.

"We're in an alley."

_My head hurts!_ she wanted to scream through the gag. She actually tried to, but it didn't sound quite right coming out.

Xavier looked at her with a frown and rolled down his window. Once the glass was out of his way, a tentacle slithered outside the van and knocked hard on the metal three times. The loud sounds startled Jane and she settled back down for a moment, starting to contemplate whether or not giving up like this was a good idea.

Moments after he had given the 'signal' as Fungus had thought, the side door that lead to the back of the van slammed open. Much to Jane's surprise there wasn't anyone there… at first. A long, seemingly endless green tentacle slithered into the van and wrapped around Jane. Something told her it didn't belong to Xavier either. She was pulled towards the exit to the van and could only squirm while being pulled out and then… lifted up?

Whatever had grabbed her was either really tall or just had very long tentacles that could reach the ground from the roof of the building. And the higher she was hoisted off the ground the more the appendage wrapped around her. By the time she was positioned sideways and pulled through a broken window facing towards the alley, she was almost completely mummified if it weren't for her head still poking out through the tightly wrapped flesh.

And then it dropped her.

She landed on her side but… that didn't feel pretty. She curled up into a ball and closed her eyes, not wanting to see any of the monsters who had currently kidnapped her. Hopefully all they wanted was to kill her… she didn't want anything more right now.

"How rude…" a voice, one she didn't recognize, said in a huff. At first Jane thought they were talking about her, but what exactly could she have done to be rude? She didn't get it.

"Why would they tie you up like this?"

"Wahrscheinlich damit sie nicht schreien(1)."

"Hah! Now that we have laughter as a power source her screaming won't have much of an affect like it would."

Jane swallowed hard and curled tighter into a ball when she realized that one of them was walking toward her. She didn't pay any mind to what they were talking about but she preferred her little spot on the floor to whatever they were going to do now. Jane wasn't so sure she wanted to quit just yet but… what else was she to do? Whoever had crossed the distance between them stopped just behind her and did nothing more for upwards three breaths, probably examining her.

"Hold still," he ordered gruffly and she felt claws swipe down the area between her wrists. It didn't hurt, they hadn't cut her but the ropes around her wrists were demolished. Jane brought them forward and hugged herself, forgetting about the gag and trying to wake her hands up. Now that they were free they felt almost dead asleep.

She turned to look semi-gratefully at whoever had freed her from her bonds and let out a muffled scream, trying her best to back up without standing. The first thing she saw was rows of teeth exposed in a grin that broadened when she screamed. Jane brought her hands behind her head and undid her gag, taking deep much needed breaths that were only used for more whimpering.

Okay, so the monster standing in front of her now was about four times as scary as any of the ones she'd faced so far. Given she hadn't even looked at that many monsters yet, he was still so… _big_. She didn't even want to know what the other in the room looked like.

"Don't get your panties in a knot just yet," he growled with his arms crossed, "You're only the bait."

* * *

"So what is this machine for again?" a large mass of fur currently holding up nearly all of the scream extractor close to its mount on the ceiling. Fungus, after Manny had retrieved the human, was still in shock from it and decided it was best to just chant to himself 'out of sight, out of mind.' But… that didn't work. He needed something to do to keep his mind off it.

His reaction when Xavier had first told him was to pale, stay silent for almost thirty seconds, then explode while screaming that the entire thing was insane. Honestly, how could all of these monsters sit there with straight faces, knowing they had kidnapped _humans_! It wasn't right; they knew that. And so did Fungus.

Which was why he was still shaking when the massive monster was helping him. Fungus didn't exactly hear her question right the first time due to his inner turmoil and panic still nagging at his mind. So he forced it away long enough to look at her and ask what she had said.

"I said, what is this machine for again?"

"Oh… just something Zack wanted. Just one of those things he had to have, you know?"

"Still doesn't answer my question," she murmured, but didn't question it further. Fungus took another good look at her.

Big and furry, just like Sully, but with orange fur and green stripes running horizontally down her back and along her arms. Her body itself wasn't exactly as hairy as Sully's, and her midsection had a feminine curve that made her look slimmer.

Fungus watched her while beginning to bolt and secure the machine to it's place on the ceiling, every now and then looking at her face. His mouth twisted in some confusion, remembering that Sully was often described as bear-like as well. But after looking at this female version of him, Fungus noticed that her face was different too.

For one her face was actually a bit more bear-like. Instead of having a low, fuzzy chin, she had somewhat of a snout, not real big, and her eyes were a bit bigger as well. Maybe she wasn't exactly a full bred then, either that or Sully wasn't. Either way, she was quite different and Fungus couldn't help but silently compare her to the monster he knew, going over the differences.

"So what's your name, anyway?" he asked, trying to make conversation before getting the last bolt in.

"Bond. James Bond."

"Haha, funny," Fungus said sarcastically past clenched teeth, currently using all of his strength to tighten more wires. The monster snorted in a short laughter and answered seriously.

"Eliza."

_Pretty name_, he thought, just before jumping in surprise and turning to watch Zack storm down the stairs after a scurrying Xavier, looking at the Scream Extractor like it was some kind of prize.

"We almost finished, here?"

"Just about," Eliza answered with a smile, "Long time no see, Zack."

"Ditto," the monster smiled and turned back to Fungus, "Manny is upstairs tending to our _guest_. We'll bring her down as soon as we have everything set up. As for you Eliza as soon as you are done, you're free to go."

Eliza nodded and shifted her weight some to help Fungus out. The smaller red monster was almost finished. He was currently screwing in the last bolt that held the Scream Extractor up. All he had to do was tighten up the last screw and… "Done!"

"Cool!" Eliza smiled, letting go of the machine and waiting a moment to see if it was stable. She even flicked it a little and the metal arm did not budge. Then she stopped for a second, eyeing the back of the machine.

"Hey… what are scream cartridges doing on here?"

"They came with it, old recycled ones the company never used. They're mostly for show," Zack replied with a shrug and tried to usher her out the door, "Anyway you should probably get going. Thanks and all for helping Fungus but we have a busy schedule."

"All right, all right. Hey, you guys hear about the humans brought into our world?" she asked as if she had just remembered something, trying to strike a small conversation. Zack didn't pause and only shook his head, though Fungus and Xavier nearly fell at the mention of it. Eliza watched the curiously while being herded up the stairs.

Moments after she was out the front door of the abandoned apartment buildings, Manny was called down. The large snake-like creature slithered down sets of stairs while dragging a protesting Jane behind him. Upon reaching the basement the other three heard their arguing, mostly Jane's screaming the monster's threats to kill her. If she understood German she probably would have stopped but the only thing she heard was his low bickering and her angry yelling.

"Put me down, I can walk you know!"

"Ruhige, oder ich werde Ihren Kiefer zu brechen(2)," he growled and tightened his tail around her waist. Jane whimpered and struggled weakly against her restraints and didn't notice the other monsters in the room at first.

"I'd listen to him," Zack smiled deviously, "You ready Xavier?"

The monster in question nodded while turning on a small digital camera which was set up on a tripod, facing Jane's direction. Zack's grin broadened, looking at Manny and nodding his head in the scream extractor's direction.

"You want to do the honors?"

Manny let out a low laugh that sent shivers down Fungus's spine.

"Lichter, Kameras …" he flashed his teeth in Jane's direction menacingly, his snarl slowly breaking into a smile, "Aktion!(3)"

* * *

So being strapped down on a stretcher wasn't the most pleasant thing he'd waken up to. Nor was getting a month old set of stitches removed as soon as the doctor realized he's come to.

Randall struggled lightly against his the straps nervously, looking away each time he saw the scissors brought up to a stitch and cut it, feeling the thread pull from his arm. It wouldn't have hurt so much if it weren't for the fact that his arm was so sore.

"Whoever did these stitches still needs a lot of practicing to do. They should have been taken out ages ago!" the doctor cursed, knowing how badly it might have been hurting his patient now that the wound had almost healed with the stitching still inside. Randall winced again, feeling his arm begin to bleed somewhat.

After pulling out the last stitch Randall felt a cold liquid applied to his arm and then dried with a cotton swab around the wound. He winced a little at the feeling and relaxed when he felt adhesive strips covering his shoulder.

"Well because those stitches were in for so long it will definitely scar, and it won't look pretty either. So, for the next while, five days or so, keep using those bandages. Keep your arm clean, wear sunscreen when it's sunny and try to keep your arm from getting hit. It'll still be sore for a long time until it's fully healed," the doctor droned in a bored manner as if he's said so about a million times. Randall wanted to sit up but he couldn't due to the fact that he was _still_ strapped down.

Also, he was pretty sure that if he did he'd throw up due to the nausea and head ache caused by whoever knocked him out.

"You were hit pretty good," a nurse sitting opposite from the doctor while handing said monster a clipboard. Her one eye scanned the interior of the van while four sets of arms, two coming from her sides like normal arms would, one coming from her stomach and the fourth on her back, opened cabinets and drawers in search of something.

"Actually you might have a minor concussion," the doctor noted while taking a closer look at where he was hit.

"So what now?" Randall asked annoyed, wondering why he was even strapped down in the first place.

"Well for the most part time is all we have to heal things like those. All we can tell you is to stay relaxed and… don't get knocked out again," he shrugged, "But we will give you some pain killers that might help the swelling."

"Ah-hah!" the nurse cried when the arm attached to her back had grasped a bottle of pills from the cabinet, "Found them."

Her thumb popped the cap and gracefully she shook the bottle up once, releasing two pills that landed in the hand attached to her stomach. While one hand set the pills back where she found them, the other set the two she had retrieved in a small cup next to a water bottle.

"You'll take them when you're free to go. Until then I suggest you rest a bit," the nurse said while signing something on the clipboard that the doctor held out to her.

"So then why am I strapped down?" he asked growing more annoyed by the moment. Neither answered his question and continued to fill out the paperwork that was required. Finally the doctor set his pen down and looked at Randall with a frown, not exactly sure how to put this.

"You're tied down because you are currently being restrained."

Oh… he'd forgotten about the fact that he was going to be _behind bars_! Randall growled in frustration and thrashed in the stretcher, attempting to slip out of them somehow. It didn't do much good. Actually it made his headache worse.

"Release him."

"Wha?" Randall paused and tried to lift his head enough to look out the van. All he could see was the top of Roz's hair. Oh no…

The nurse used all four hands to undo the straps in record time and once free Randall was given the pills. He looked from the pills up to Roz then back down at the pills again before taking them and swallowing them dry, ignoring the water, all after sitting up.

"You need to see this," Roz said, turning away and heading back towards the building. Randall looked around before deciding that, rather than escaping he'd better follow her. A little part of him wanted to see if Jane was all right as well. No one said a word about her since he'd woken up. So she's probably okay… wasn't she?

It took him a minute to realize that Roz was taking him back to the simulation room. Upon their arrival though he could see the difference between now and when he was attempting to get back at the huge hairball that virtually ruined his life. For one, said monster, including Mike and Celia, were no longer present in the room. Nor was half the CDA members that were there earlier. As for the experimental door, it was currently being worked on as well as the station. For a minute he thought he could make out the problem from here, seeing as though there were quite a few wires that needed replacing. But he was sure that the last thing Roz wanted was an explanation on why the door has broken, so he stayed silent and followed close behind.

"Any luck tracing the video, number 531?"

The computer hacking CDA member shook his head sadly. Randall cocked his head to the side, wondering what exactly Roz had wanted to show him. As if both had read his mind, the agent that Roz had addressed pulled up the media player window on his lap top and pressed play.

"_Du bist nicht mehr in Kansas …(4)"_

"_I don't speak Spanish."_

Randall stared point-blank at the computer screen. For a moment he couldn't exactly believe what he was seeing. This had to be a joke… right? It… actually didn't look like a joke. From what he saw, Jane was front and center in the camera's view. She was strapped to a metal chair, and flinched when a loud, angry roar-like hiss sounded at the very end of her reply. He let the sounds coming from the computer speakers go through one ear and out the other, watching the video as if he was actually there.

"_He actually speaks German,"_ another voice corrected from off screen. Actually… no other monsters were on screen at all. Whoever was present didn't show themselves but then again why would they?

"_Second of all, this is a message to the head of Monsters Incorporated as well as it's a message to the CDA."_

"_And this message would be…?"_

"_You will be an example. The smaller human will experience the same fate if we are not handed over the authority of Monsters Inc. Starting now they have around twenty-four hours to respond."_

Jane looked at the camera as if it were the speaker itself, a questioning look on her face. At first it looked like she was about to say something in reply, that is, until the camera began to shake violently. The quivers didn't last long and once the camera was stable again the screen showed a very frightened and confused girl. Her head raised to look around her and try to spot the source of the loud mechanical noise similar to a computer starting up. Eventually her gaze fixed on something and followed it from the ceiling all the way down to look straight ahead. Whatever she had been looking at was off screen but Randall had a sick feeling in his stomach that it wasn't good.

"_What… is that?"_

"_That would be the Scream Extractor. Only there have been a few modifications made by yours truly."_

"_So it won't extract my screams?" _Jane asked warily, beginning to pull on her restraints and try to maneuver herself so that she wouldn't be in its way.

"_Nope,"_ the off screen voice confirmed just as the end piece to the Scream Extractor came into view, _"It will extract your lungs."_

Jane froze in place watching it for a split second before swallowing hard and slowly picking up where she left off in her attempts to escape. The Scream Extractor was now about two and a half feet from her and her struggling grew more violent.

"_Get me OUT OF HERE!"_

Darkness.

The video had ended.

Randall didn't exactly know what to say at first. So he decided not to say anything at all. But after closing his mouth when he realized his jaw had gone slack, Randall risked a glance at Roz, then a glare at number 531, before turning around and walking briskly in the direction of the CEO's office.

"SULLIVAN!" he screamed loudly, knowing well he couldn't hear him from here, and braced himself as he was followed by CDA agents ordered to restrain him.

* * *

"Get me OUT OF HERE!"

Just as she had finished the last syllable of her sentence the lights flickered on and off. From a pitch black room to a dimly lit basement, the power seemed to stabilize after three or four flashes. Jane's vision was slightly obscured by the violent pumping of her heart, causing her entire body to shake with each beat. When the lights came back on the mechanical whirring had slowed to a halt and she looked in front of her to see that the 'Scream Extractor's' end wasn't drawing any closer. She swallowed the lump in her throat hard and realized that she had been sweating.

Though her heart beat didn't stop, her breaths did slow down some to realize the weight of the situation, and suddenly she felt a whole lot better. Well… more tired actually. Jane let her head loll forward and hang there while she took in deep breaths of air, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating or throwing up again.

"What happened?" Zack roared glaring over at Fungus who flinched under his gaze. The small monster shuddered and scurried forward towards the machine while Xavier played with the camera.

"The machine must have taken the power out," the orange monster guessed, earning an enraged growl coming from Zack.

"That's impossible! We have more than enough power to fuel this thing!"

"Not if it was hooked up right," Fungus answered warily, now perched up on a ladder examining the mount that held the Scream Extractor up. Zack stopped with a few short huffed breaths and turned to Fungus and asked quietly, "…what?"

"It wasn't hooked up right," he said, more afraid than the last time he answered, shaking so hard his glasses may fall off, "Elisa must have held it at an angle. A wire was twisted while I was screwing it in and it's possible that it could have taken the power out."

Zack's teeth bared in an angry snarl when he turned around to face Manny, who's tongue flickered out in response.

"Go find her," he snarled, "And don't bring her back alive."

Xavier was still playing with the camera when Zack turned in his direction next, pointing a sharp clawed finger in the smaller monster's direction, "And _you!_"

The monster he was addressing flinched at the sound of his voice and answered him meekly, cowering down some so that he would not be hit in case Zack may lose his temper that second. Zack's muscles loosened some and he gave Xavier a blank smile, "Video is good enough as is. Get that file on camera and e-mail it to Mr. Sullivan."

* * *

Roz released a tired and bored sigh while throwing the pen on the desk down and listening to Randall's fits from the other room. He was currently being restrained again and this time more successfully.

After they had him somewhat calm, Roz had explained the unknown monster's intentions on the first call. Though it had not calmed him down any, he did start to take a few deep breaths before fighting harder against the CDA to find Sullivan. He had started to yell things that… weren't exactly pleasant and eventually the CEO had caught wind of them.

So now here she was, in Sullivan's office, trying to tell the big blue fur ball that talking with Randall should be the last thing on his mind right now.

"Mr. Sullivan I advise you that it would be best to ignore Mr. Boggs for now and focus more on finding that child."

Sully had become an uncombed mess that sat on the other side of the desk and stared at Roz like a zombie. His blood shot eyes slowly opened and closed while his cheek rested on his palm, probing his head up in attempt to look more alert than he actually was. The monster needed sleep but lately that had been the last thing on his mind and was beginning to make decisions he would never suggest if he was even a little more awake than he was now.

"I don't know, Roz," the blue monster replied warily, "You've seen Randall and that girl together, he's obviously worried. I don't think it's fair to have him sit around worried sick until we retrieve them."

"Are you telling me to release Mr. Boggs?" Roz inquired, raising a brow. Sully stared at her and shrugged.

"I think you need some sleep Mr. Sullivan," she answered just as warily as he had before turning and leaving, hearing his face hit the desk with light snores following the sound. After she had exited into the hall way the company phone in her pocket began to ring.

"Any luck?" Roz asked the moment she had answered the phone, looking both ways to make sure no one was nearby to hear the conversation.

"I found them," a female voice on the other end replied.

* * *

**_A/N:_** So things are getting somewhat interesting, right? I wonder if you guys could tell that most of this was written around one or two in the morning, because those times are sadly the only ones I have the motivation to write. Anyway, here's all of Manny's lines(this is going to get annoying when he starts becoming more talkative).

**1- **Her screams would draw attention.**  
**

**2- **Quiet, or I'll break your jaw.**  
**

**3- **Lights, cameras... Action!**  
**

**4-** You're not in Kansas anymore...

Phew, okay. I had to go back and re-translate some of these because my memory serves me terribly and I accidentally deleted the file that held the quotes I used for him.

Oh! So what did you guys think of Eliza? Sully hardly ever gets his own monstress and after a moment I was thinking about keeping her for Sully but she won't be a major OC. Just sort of there and brought up every now and then... if she lives. I'll let you decide. Should she stay? Or should she be a one-chapter thing?

And now, the moment we have all been waiting for... REVIEW REPLIES!

_**DarkraixCresselia:**_ Yeah I feel bad for knocking him out. Had to happen though, Xavier didn't want any witnesses I guess.

_**Lonelyfairy:**_ I feel bad for not putting so much fluff in this one. But it's awesome you're enjoying their relationship, it's so fun to write! And yeah, poor Fungus is never NOT peeing his 'pants.' I'll give him a break in the epilogue so he's not so on edge. =) And yeah, Sully is a sweet guy. Sadly he's like, the main character and so far in most stories has no one to start his own sort of relationship with. Eliza was originally going to be a way to connect everything together but I've been thinking of keeping her as a background OC that she and Sully might spark up something with. ;D_**  
**_

_**TheShiz:**_ Hahah! Yeah Roz is fun to write, she's practically the only person who can say what they want to a monster four times her size and get away with it because she's still scarier. That's one of the few things I love about writing her, because then I can go almost anywhere in a conversation that she'd be involved in. And now you have me picturing shirts with Team Randall and Team Manny, it's making me laugh! That was awesome, thanks for the amazing review and I'm glad the fluff made you squeal. =D_**  
**_

_**darkreflection:**_ I know what she'll do! But that can't be revealed yet... although I may or may not have made it obvious... either way yeah, it was pretty Ironic and I didn't even notice it until I was trying to name the chapter. Thanks for the review! =)

_**ClosetWerewolf808:**_ I watch a LOT of television... =)

_**Oriana:**_ That has to be the my personal favorite chapter that I've written so far, so I completely agree with you on the Richter scale! Jane's reaction to being in jail was interesting to think up. Really glad I succeeded though and your amazing review had confirmed that. Thank you so much and I'm really grateful for that. Oh, and I got a real good deal on that Umbrella. If you ever see one at your local Hot Topic they are definitely cheaper than they are on Amazon or Ebay! Gir is so adorable~

_**Elemental Queen:**_ Aww why thankyou. ^^ Sadly this one wasn't as long but it was still a lot longer than the chapters I started out with.

_**BearsRUs:**_ YES! Or a train wreck! Either way it will be epic and the Randall/Jane will be totally worth while once all of this horrible evil-ness clears up... I just have no clue how soon that will be._**  
**_

_**Mambo-Like-Dis:**_ Good eye there! Sadly 'near' isn't as close as I personally would like it to be, but there will be some major action eventually. And unfortunately the information on its plot will be classified until they figure out what to do with Jane in the long run. Until then I still have a lot of constructing to do on it otherwise, so by then I'll have a decent idea of what the smaller side-plots will be about. =)

You are all amazing! Thank you so much for Reading and/or Reviewing!


	14. Some People Call Me Grace

**_A/N:_** Well... it's the last day of Summer... and honestly I've had so much writer's block it wasn't funny. I've tried everything for me to get over and even after our week vacation, I couldn't get over it. So this chapter is written a bit sloppy, sorry about that... there was just nothing, absolutely nothing that could help it. So sorry this took so long, I tried my best.

There's a lot going on in this one but not really anything exciting. Just more of a changing of POV's because again, the writer's block was getting in the way and for some reason revolving the POV kind of helps because it gives me an entirely different part to stress over. Some were easier than others and it just helps for me to get through the chapters. Hope you all forgive me. ^^; This story is getting FINISHED! WHOOO!

**_Disclaimer:_** I'm honestly getting tired of these. It's a fan fiction site to begin with, why I still put them here irks me. I don't own anything(much to my grief) and I won't for a very long time. So please, don't sue. =)

* * *

"I'm not kidding, Sullivan. We have to act _now_! At least pretend to accept that offer so we can find this monster!"

Randall's fists slammed into the desktop, startling the large mass of fur on the other side of it. Sully woke up to Randall bursting into his office, and now that he was more awake and capable of processing a situation, was wanting to say the same thing as Randall. But Roz wouldn't have any of it before, he didn't imagine her having any of it now. But now that Randall was sitting here, green eyes digging into his soul, Sully didn't really know how to answer.

First off, how he got here past _all _of those CDA members was a wonder on its own. Roz probably wasn't so surprised though, that video was quite graphic and it had taken a lot of persuading to get her to show Randall the footage. He had no clue how he would reacted, but this was Randall's human in danger and he deserved to know.

"I can't, Randall, I'm sorry. Roz won't allow me to respond to any of the messages. It will put the humans in more danger, and expose them. Their being here hasn't reached the media at all yet, the only monsters that know about them are the ones involved in this entire mess, and she intends on keeping it that way."

Randall let out a loud roar of frustration and turned away, only to be face-to-face with a slightly less than annoyed Roz.

"I might as well have brought you here anyway. At least you're not trying to kill him anymore," she shrugged, slithering over to the purple monster's side. Randall, for a second, felt like he just stared death in the face. He shook his head and refocused, growling at her comment.

"I have bigger things to worry about right now," he retorted, crossing both sets of arms. Roz gave him a sideways glance before tossing her phone onto the CEO's desk. Sully looked down at it, then back up at its owner with a dumbfounded look on his face. She didn't say anything after that. Randall's patience was wearing thin. His eye twitched about two or three times before he lost patience.

"What is it?"

"It's dialing," Roz responded. As if on cue, someone on the other line picked up.

"Number One?"

"Number Thirteen is one of our undercover agents. She suspects she has a lead as to where the humans are being kept."

Sully and Randall both leaned forward so that they were hovering over the phone while Roz continued, "The humans' monsters are on the line with us."

"Whoa, wait up," Sully interrupted, holding up his paws to stop Roz, "How come she was capable of finding a lead before 531?"

"That's what I've been thinking!" the voice on the phone replied, "Their facilities aren't very high tech at all, no computers or anything. How they are capable of keeping 531's computers blocked is beyond me."

Roz squinted her eyes in thought. Just seconds after Number Thirteen had spoken, though, there was a loud crashing sound on the phone. Sully and Randall each exchanged confused glances before looking down at the phone, hearing number Thirteen curse loudly.

"I have to go, Number One," she said after there was a sound of screaming tires, "One of them is on my tail."

And the line was cut out.

* * *

Jane landed hard on the floor just as Xavier had released her. She had lost her footing in attempt to turn around and give him a good piece of her mind through her fist, but it didn't turn out so well. After a moment of cursing she slowly lifted herself up and looked over her shoulder at the now closed, and locked, steel door.

She let out a short breath before crawling over to the nearest wall and leaning up against it. The room was small, not very big, just four walls with no window, one light bulb that hardly lit it up, and one way in or out. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them, letting her head rest against her knees.

Today s definitely the most traumatizing day of her entire life. And right now her first priority was to just curl up into the fetal position and try to forget about all of it.

"Pink!"

Jane's head snapped up, looking around the room once more. Instead of looking up at everything else form her spot on the floor, she actually took a good look at the lower half of the room as well. The floors were _covered_ in paper and, if she looked closely in the dim lighting, could see something on them. Jane grabbed the closest piece of paper there was and examined it. On it was a large, furry blue and purple creature drawn in crayon; it wasn't half bad. Next to him was a small green ball… with an eye.

These two little characters look familiar.

Wait… that's Mike and Sully!

"Orange!"

She looked around again and this time, in the corner of the room she could see a little girl, putting down a colored crayon. Jane froze, watching her pick up a blue crayon and examine it.

"Red!"

Okay. So the kid was still learning her colors.

But what the _hell_ was it doing here?

The little girl paused in her attempt to fish in the box for another crayon after spotting Jane. She picked up a white color and awkwardly stood up, running over to the older girl while holding out her 'gift'.

"Pink!"

Jane hadn't moved a muscle. She was still in her sitting position and slowly reached her hand out, taking the crayon from the little girl.

"Uh… thanks," she said, still staring at her wide-eyed. The little girl's bangs were stuck to her face, drenched in sweat. Now that she thought about it, it _was_ pretty hot in here.

"Boo!"

Jane cocked her head to the side. Boo? Oh!

…This must be the girl Randall kidnapped a while ago. Her family must be worried sick. Jane frowned and fiddled with the white crayon while the little girl stood there still, smiling down at her. She looked back up at her and smiled sheepishly, holding up the white crayon given to her.

"Pink?"

* * *

Number 531 sighed and closed his suit case, packing up all of his wires and supplies. The only thing that was left out was his laptop, which was currently running a scan for viruses. He was the last one left in the simulation room, but he hadn't been alone for more than five minutes. The last of the CDA members had left a few moments ago, leaving the hacker and his computer.

He was unplugging wires that hooked up to the entire computer system, which he used to get a better connection. Though he no longer needed said connection, the comfort of having it there ensured him that there wouldn't be any screw ups.

The small monster was careful not to let either of his three feet trip over any wires while attempting to tie them neatly with the one arm he had.

His computer started beeping, causing 531 to become startled and trip over a wire. Regaining his composure, the small CDA member scurried over to the laptop. Looking at the results for the scan.

_Systems are ready and fully loaded. Continue?_

He was about to click yes before he was suddenly swept off his feet and slammed into a wall. Number 531 let out a loud yelp just as he hit the wall and realized that he couldn't see who was pinning him. His attacker was completely invisible but while he was held there he could feel their grip tighten, pushing him further up from the ground.

"Where. Are. The humans?"

Just as they had asked that, the invisible creature appeared.

"Mr. Boggs!" the smaller monster cried out in surprise, "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Are you stupid? Tell me where you're keeping them, or I'll take your precious lap top and shove it up your ass!"

Number 531 flinched and cowered in his spot, remembering for a brief moment about the program sitting on his computer. He took a deep breath, deciding that he needed to think fast if the job was to get done.

"Okay, okay. I don't have the address, but I do have a map. If you let me down I can pull it up on my computer."

The reptilian monster let out a low growl but let him go anyway, causing the smaller CDA member to land on the ground with a thud. He had no clue he was held off the ground so high… it actually startled him in his landing. After regaining his composure, Number 531 scurried over to his laptop and before his attacker had any time to come around and see the screen, clicked on _Yes_. By the time he felt Randall's presence behind him, the small window had already disappeared and all evidence and files on the program he had just started were gone.

Just as he was about to bring up a map that would have… some pretty convincing coordinates, the monster standing behind him chose that moment to clear his throat. 531 turned to look over his shoulder at him before a giant fist flew past his head, completely crushing his laptop. It took him a few seconds to process this and then realize that the huge fist belonged to Sulley.

"Oh uh… we actually can't do much with a map. We're going to need the actual address. With you being our GPS system," Randall continued with the CEO standing behind him, so angry that he was practically foaming at the mouth, "So where are they?"

* * *

Fungus paced back and forth in the basement with the Scream Extractor hanging from the ceiling just a few feet away. He was beginning to think that Eliza had held it at that angle on purpose, knowing that the odd placement of it would cause a few things to be off and therefore, would eventually cause a few loose wires to heat up. That wouldn't cause the power outage though, whether or not there was so much raw energy just being wasted at the ends of those wires. Either way, he couldn't fully diagnose the problem unless someone as strong as Eliza could hold up the Scream Extractor.

And to be honest he was pretty glad that the girl's lungs didn't get extracted. Not only would that be a horrible site for his three eyes, God only knew that Zack would have made him clean up the mess afterwards. But that wasn't the only reason he was so glad.

About ten minutes after Manny had left, Zack was too pissed to stick around and gaze at his failure. Even if it looked okay on-screen for the final draft, the fact that he didn't get to watch this girl's blood spill peeved him. So while Xavier held her still, Fungus unlocked her restraints so that she could be put in the room. But she was so out of it by the time that they had started pulling her out of the chair it was almost like she was talking in her sleep.

"_Ugh… Randall?"_ she had mumbled when Xavier lifted her. Her head lolled forward followed by the rest of her weight and he nearly dropped her. The falling sensation had kick-started her awake and she nearly hit Xavier good in the face, on accident of course. Fungus, however, was still stunned by her comment. It had never occurred to him until that point that this was _Randall_'s human. He never even considered Randall getting to know one!

Thus, bringing him back to his current pacing around the Scream Extractor. For one, if they found out he was in on this, not only was Sully going to rip him a new one, Randall was probably going to do so first. That thought alone was enough to make him soil himself, and pacing sort of helped prevent that. But now, at this point, not even spinning in circles would help calm him.

He needed to get those humans out of here.

Yeah, that's what he needed.

The CDA was probably already on their way here. They knew where they were. Whether it was his paranoia speaking or not, he had a sensation that just told him they were about to get caught. And even if that's what Zack had wanted, he needed to get those humans out of here. They were causing them trouble and if he himself tried to leave Manny would only hunt them down. But if he could get the humans out of here just as the CDA shows up and he gives them back… just maybe he could be spared. Fungus shuddered violently, briefly wondering for a moment what had happened to Eliza. But that didn't matter now… what mattered was he needed to save his skin.

Fungus stopped his pacing and realized that his eyes had shifted over to the door that kept the humans locked away. Maybe he'd better try to get Xavier's help on this…

* * *

"I just don't understand…"

"Then don't try to understand it."

"But you can't do this to them! Why bring them into this when you obviously had this whole thing planned out all along?"

"Why do you think?" Zack roared, his snarling face inches from Eliza's. The female monster had, according to Manny, refused to die and put up a good enough fight that he had no patience left. He brought her back alive, but barely breathing and now here she was, hanging upside down in the middle of his office. Her arms were tied, with wire, behind her back while her ankles, and even her tail, were restrained while the blood slowly rushed to her head. She craned her neck some and bared her own teeth at him, exposing large canines that were, sadly, no match for his.

Zack pulled away, shaking off his anger and looking at the bright side to the odd twist he had not expected. It may actually work to his advantage. His teeth exposed themselves once more, but this time in a nasty grin that ran cold shivers down the others spine.

"So how long have you been such a convincing little agent?"

Eliza gave him a blank look and turned her head, not answering his question. But after a moment she turned back to him with a new feeling of frustration. Something just hit her.

"First you tell me how long you've had _your_ little traitor."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zack shrugged, but knew in the back of his mind who she meant. Eliza wasn't stupid, using the fact that she was able to ruin his plans just by holding the Scream Extractor at an odd angle. She had figured it out long before and shame on him for not suspecting that she might be one of the many doubles that belonged to the CDA.

"Don't play dumb," she smiled, "I know that's not your thing. And I also know that it wouldn't have taken us so long to find you if it weren't for your little _friend_."

"Hah!" Zack let out a loud laugh that was cut short by his own growling, "And here's why the humans were useful."

He began to pace around Eliza's hanging body while she struggled to turn her head and watch him. Once he was out of her sight the only think she could find herself to focus on was the pile of snake-like flesh on the other side of the room. Manny's head was buried in his own coils while he tried to nap on the other end of the room but couldn't help to laugh every now and then at the ongoing conversation between the other two monsters in the room.

"While you and the rest of the CDA were worried about finding them, my little _friend_ had been making up the rest of your problems right below your noses. Before you got too bored I was going to put on a little show with the new and improved Scream Extractor. But now that you've got them on their way here, that's even better."

"What in the _world_ have you been making then?" Eliza growled in frustration, having trouble trying to piece all of this together.

"A computer virus designed to sabotage all systems used in Monsters Incorporated, of course," Zack snickered, "How fun would it be to watch this place go down in flames, just because we are all so dependant on our technology?"

"Are you _crazy_?" Eliza screeched, wriggling in her restraints. She looked as helpless as a worm on a hook, and felt so too. But why would he be so insane as to take away the only power source for this city? Better yet, the entire Monster world? As if Zack had read her mind he shrugged and replied, "No. Just bored."

A faint sound of struggling coming from the lower floors caused the two to pause, looking around the room as if they could see through the walls and find the source. After a moment there were a series of crashes. Zack turned to face Manny who had pulled his head from his piled mass on the floor, and nodded his head in the direction of the door.

"Go check that out."

* * *

"Xavier just think about it! When he's done, Zack is only going to sick Manny on us. There is literally no safety in this."

"Yes there _is_," Xavier growled back, "As long as I do what he says, Ali is safe, along with my kid."

Fungus balled his fists and swore his growing anger was causing his body to have a melt down. He pushed his glasses further up his face before pointing the same hand in the direction of the door holding the humans hostage, "How would you feel if that were your kid in there, then? That's someone else's child in there and its parents have no clue where she is. And you're going to sit here and selfishly think about how glad you are that it's not your child?"

The outburst had the smaller monster bouncing on his feet like a barking Chihuahua. He had yelled so loud that his lungs felt pretty empty and his three eyes were squinted into such a glare that he could hardly see straight. Xavier was pretty taken aback and after a moment felt his face heat up with embarrassment. But Fungus didn't stop there.

"So how can you sit here and picture yourself being a good father when you see a kid that needs its parents the most, and all you're doing for it is feeding it _junk food_!"

"Fungus-"

"The poor thing is starting to look malnourished. And the other girl looks like she's having some kind of psychological issue going on, and you're throwing her around like a rag doll. Some kind of dad you'll be!"

"Fungus!"

Whatever he had to say next died in his throat as he took in Xavier's pained expression. He stood there for a moment, half expecting the monster to punch him or beat the living crap out of him. But Xavier just shook his head, doing what he could not to break out into tears, "You're right, and I'm sorry," he said quickly, taking a deep breath. How could he do this to all these kids, when he's trying to learn how to take care of his own? And why did it take so damn long for him to see that? Now he just felt flat out horrible and had no clue what to do in order to make up for it.

"Don't say sorry to me," Fungus said, still slightly in awe that he had actually put Xavier on an epic guilt trip, "Say sorry to them. They're the ones you have mistreated."

"I tried to be nice…"

"I know, just come on, we have to think up a plan…"

Both sat there in silence for a moment thinking. And absolutely nothing was coming to mind.

"Okay, I can't come up with anything," Xavier said while his shoulders slumped, "How about you?"

"Me either…"

"How about we just think it up as we go?"

"How in the _world_ would that work?" Fungus questioned with his hands on his sides. Xavier threw a tentacle around the back of his head and shrugged, avoiding eye contact with the other, "I don't know, it's worth a shot."

Fungus let out a sigh and dropped his hands to his sides, giving a sad glance towards the door, "How about we just work on getting them out of here first. Once we're far enough away we'll think of something."

"And when we get them outside? We can't just walk down the street with two humans that will probably be fighting us the whole way."

Fungus let out a frustrated sound from the back of his throat, rubbing his temples while grumbling, "I don't know! Let's just think of _something_!"

* * *

Her house is burned down. All the animals she'd spent a good part of her childhood taking care of are most likely dead. Her friends don't know where she is, her disappearance probably wouldn't be discovered for at least a week due to her house being in the middle of nowhere, and her family would be the last to find out about it.

Jane took in a deep breath.

When she gets back and they see that she hasn't gotten a single scratch on her but her entire place is now a pile of ashes, it would be assumed that she did it herself. And that's only assuming that Randall's welcoming party hadn't left any evidence that they were there.

Why did they want to hurt _her_ anyway?

Oh… right… she threatened them all with a gun.

Okay, so what now?

The soft sound of music was playing in the room but Jane couldn't tell which song it was. There weren't too many on the library on her phone but it was enough to keep the little girl busy while she drew. The small device had, of course, no service and no internet so all it basically was for the moment is a toy that had games and music on it. The two-year-old girl was having a blast just listening to her small selection on it and since Jane no longer had any use for the thing, she let her have it.

She started to recognize the tune after blanking her mind and listening closer. It was a music-box version of a song she remembered liking a long time ago. She just couldn't remember the name of it. Jane sat there for a moment listening to the familiarity of the chimes while the song played, remembering the beat and the tune but not the words.

Another image of Sonic's helpless state entered her mind and Jane hugged herself tighter, trying hard not to cry. She wasn't good at this nurse thing at all! The only reason she tried to do it was to impress her family but she was having a hard time even remembering some of the stuff she learned. If she was smarter Jane could have probably tried harder to help him. She could have done better. She could have done a _lot_ better.

Jane was so caught up in her own self-pity she didn't realize the door open when the sliver of light landed directly on her. She sat there until she felt a set of tentacles gently started to pull her up.

She freaked out.

"What do you want from me now!" she cried, pulling away. Jane pressed herself against the wall, inching farther and farther away from Xavier while the monster entered the room with Fungus close behind.

"We're getting you out of here."

"I don't want to go anywhere but home!" she growled and faltered. She… still hadn't a clue where home was now.

"You know Randall, right?" Fungus asked.

"What about him?"

"Don't you want to go back to him?"

"Hah! Not in a million years," she huffed, crossing her arms. Fungus and Xavier exchanged glances.

"Look, we're just going to take you two to the CDA before they get here, so they can send you home and then we'll get to go home ourselves," Fungus started, "Not to mention that the little girl over there has been here longer than you. She needs to go home and she needs to go now."

"Then why the hell did you bring her here in the first place?" she challenged, not trusting either of them for a second.

"Because if I didn't do what Zack said, he'd hurt my own family," Xavier said, looking away, "And my wife is kind of pregnant."

Jane had no retort. For a second her harsh expression softened and couldn't find it in her to fight them after that.

"Do you promise you're only returning me back to the CDA so I can go home?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"Mmhm," both the monsters shook their heads. Jane sighed and walked over to the little girl who was holding her phone and playing with something on it. She gently picked the two-year-old up and walked over to stand in front of the monsters. Jane didn't look too confident but she had to suck it up eventually. With one swift movement while the child was distracted she had reclaimed her phone and quickly shut it off. The device ended up in her back pocket before the little girl could question where it went.

"So where to?"

The two monsters before her faltered and exchanged nervous glances before looking back at her and smiling sheepishly. It took her five seconds to come to the conclusion that they weren't real sure yet.

"Couldn't you have thought this out?"

"You have any idea what we're trying to run from?" Fungus reminded her. Jane's shoulders slumped when the thought of that large snake-thing entered her mind again. Even though she couldn't understand a word he said, it probably wasn't nice. That much was clear. And he was honestly the last thing she had wanted to see here.

After a moment of awkward silence the group started to head forwards to the stairs. But before they got very far from the door in the back Xavier and Fungus had stopped to make sure the coast was clear. Both had failed to notify Jane of this and therefore she kept walking.

And then tripped over one of Xavier's tentacles.

Aside from the little girl's screaming now that she had probably wet herself, Jane screamed as well. Before she even began to really fall Jane saw that she was going to hit a large crate, and shifted her body weight quickly so that she'd hit it with her back, and not the kid. It was like a domino affect after that.

As soon as Jane made contact with the stack crates, the objects fell over knocking over at least three more stacks, and the last to fall made the loudest sound when it hit the floor. The seemingly endless chain of loud noises had frozen every single soul in the room, and even the two-year-old had ceased in her crying to stare in amazement at what had just happened. And then she started laughing.

While she was giggling, Xavier had to close his mouth with a tentacle to hold it up, and Fungus had to readjust his glasses. Jane on the other hand was trying to make sure her heart hadn't exploded.

The girl's giggles had started to fade and eventually she looked around at each of the hilarious expressions on the three adults with her. Not understanding why they didn't find it as funny as she, the girl started to look around the room again. Something did seem different, like in all those Disney princess movies where the eerie music starts playing and the evil witch shows up. Only there wasn't any music and the dust clouds that had formed after the boxes had fallen still hadn't gone away, she could faintly see a figure moving beyond them.

The other three had quickly realized who the figure was and it was clear that they were no longer going anywhere. Jane bit her lip and passed the child gracefully over to Xavier, "You're more graceful than I am. And she likes you more. Here's the kid," she said quickly while preparing to run but in mid-step, as soon as most of the child's weight was supported by the monster, something wrapped around her ankle and dragged her away.

Fungus could hardly process how fast it had happened because in reality it almost liked like she just disappeared.

* * *

**_A/N:_** So I left it off kind of like that to hint to everyone(even though I'm giving it away) that Manny's _final battle_ will be with Jane. Crazy right? Because she has no clue what to do. So the next chapter will be pretty interesting. Mostly Jane trying to survive against Manny while waiting for the cavalry to arrive. Fun, yeah?

So again, I apologize for how late this is. I know some of you don't care but I feel really bad for taking so dang long to put this up. This story isn't going on any kind of hiatus, I just had a huge amount of writer's block. But luckily next chapter is something I've been dieing to write for a long time! So it will be awesome! And here are the review replies. =)

**Lonelyfairy:** Sorry you didn't get to see it in theaters. I hope you got to see it on DVD thought. It's such an awesome movie, I absolutely loved it! And yeah, it's good she didn't get her lungs sucked out. Fungus would of had to clean it up... he probably wouldn't have been too happy about that. Eliza was someone I was going to use for those two seconds but then I thought... she could be something bigger than that. I'm glad you liked her though. And thank you very much! =)**  
**

**jla2snoopy:** Yeah sorry about that I'm a dork. ^^; There actually were a few links that said it was Bill Nye but after you corrected me I still feel pretty silly. Lol! And I'm glad you're liking the story. Their team work is going to be interesting to write as well.

**DarkraixCresselia:** I just hope he arrives before he misses the show. ^^; Jane's going to have quite a bit of trouble on her hands the next chapter. She might need his help. Lol!

**ClosetWerewolf808:** Thanks! Lol thought that'd be a nice touch. x)

**BearsRUs:** Aww why thank you very much! ^^ Sadly I didn't show the good part where they got angry enough to go track down 531, but they still have a lot of differences to sort through. Plus Sully's gotta try and get Mike to help. That'll be funny too, haha! Thanks so much again!

**TheShiz:** All the drama is fun to read, AND write! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story and to add to your question, I originally got Eliza going for Sully in later chapters but then again her and Fungus sound real cute too. I'm going to have to think about that... 'cause I kind of like the idea. Thanks! =)

**darkreflection:** All I can say is practice, practice, practice. ^^; I get a lot of spare time on my hands and sometimes music helps inspire some parts of this story too. Lol thank you so much for the review!

**YouSpinMeRightRound:** Lol that's awesome that you understood it! Maybe Google Translator isn't as bad as I give it credit for. I agree, if I saw anything like that I'd break down too but apparently all it did for Randall was make his blood boil, which is good. Now all they have to do is figure out _how_ to work together, saying as though their little moment with 531 was just out of sheer anger. And I'm sure they'll try to get Mike to help. ;) That part will be so fun to write! As for Jane well... her pity party is about over when she realizes what she's up against.**  
**

**Elemental Queen:** I'm so mean to her. xD Last chapter she almost dies and in this one she gets dragged away by Manny. At least her problems are... almost over, right? Lol!

**Oriana:** Sorry to say that there wasn't as much action as you had hoped but it's nice to know that the next chapter will hopefully have more. And more Manny, since everyone loves him. And you'll just have to see but I think the more interesting part would be getting Mike to help out too. We all know how he is, lol! Also I'm really glad that I wasn't the only person thinking it was Bill Nye. ^^; I still feel like a dork! xD

**Mambo-Like-Dis:** You'll have to find out. ;) Glad Manny didn't have the patience to do so though. Or else they wouldn't have found out as much as they did.

I don't wanna go to school tomorrow...


	15. Speechless

**_A/N:_** So this was one of those parts in a story where you've planned it from the beginning, now you just have to work your way up to that part to make it absolutely amazing. This entire chapter I had planned since the paragraph Manny was introduced. Sadly, I didn't write it as great as I could have. I re-read it, checked for mistakes and probably missed a lot, and it just sounded so much better in my head. Nonetheless, I'm sure you guys will love it anyway because this is nothing but Jane and Manny.

So I hope you all enjoy this chapter, despite it was a little shorter than most. I couldn't drag some parts on forever and the ending of this one just seemed appropriate.

**_Disclaimer:_** I own not a thing!

* * *

Okay, so two seconds ago she was standing by Xavier while handing him the kid, no longer interested in holding the little girl. But now she was hanging upside-down in the dimly lit basement with the dust just barely clearing out. For a moment she hoped the thin tail that wrapped around her ankles belonged to Randall but it was probably the most far-fetched idea she's had in her head all day. And her day's been pretty damn crazy.

The creature that had picked her up was none other than the rude, German-speaking-snake that had two heads, one inside the other. Both heads were currently visible while the creature jerked his own tail in front of his face. Jane was in the most vulnerable state she thought she'd ever been in besides her sulking. And the fact that this thing seemed to be laughing at her wasn't helping either.

Fungus and Xavier could see a little better now to make out the figures of the two across the basement. Manny had Jane upside-down by her ankles, holding the girl just a few feet from the tip of his nose. The two couldn't think of anything to say, just watching in shock. Only one thought kept coming to mind any time they tried to think.

They were so dead.

Fungus opened his mouth to say something but found that his voice had left him. He quickly closed it again and watched Xavier do the same thing next to him. Neither could say a word and found it very hard to take their eyes off the scene, much less do anything to help.

"Fisch am Haken(1)," the large monster cackled softly, his long black tongue flicking in the air while the snake-like creature smelled her scent. He knew exactly whom he had caught. And this was going to be fun. Jane laughed a little nervously at his comment, not having a clue at what he had said, and decided that if she played nice for just a few moments, he'd put her down… right? He wasn't all that bad… right?

Manny's tongue flickered again, once more taking in her scent, or so she thought. But after the appendage hit her face two, three, four times Jane was starting to get peeved. The human girl let out a frustrated sound that died in the back of her throat, taken aback by the flash of fangs the monster had given her. It took her a second to realize that he was _smiling_ at her. A huge, toothy grin that seemed no less malicious than Zack's reasoning for trying to kill her. Jane swallowed the frustrated sound she was going to make.

This thing had no eyes, and so naturally he would rely on things such as smell and sound. Jane recalled this while watching his head sway, his attention briefly turning to Fungus and Xavier while they stood frozen across the room in mid-step, as if they had been walking and he caught them. This gave Jane an idea.

So if he could hear them tip-toeing from so far away, his hearing is very… well, good. She could see just the side of his head and figured that was enough. Jane took a deep breath as softly as she could.

And then she let out the shrillest, loudest scream she could muster from her lungs, hoping that she was right in his ear.

* * *

"No."

"Mike…"

"Nuh, uh!"

"Please?"

"There is _no way_ in _hell_ that I am helping that scaly cretin!"

"Wazowski, I'm sitting right here," Randall reminded the small green monster that had been trying to clock out just ten minutes prior. He had taken a later shift and was trying to get out before Sulley came to look for him. To be honest, no matter how much he worried for the kid, he had his own problems to deal with. He could put up with it another time.

But now _Randall_ was here asking for his help? No! Just… no!

Randall was already past the point of no return on his anger level. He was so mad he didn't even look annoyed. It was a calm, scary, quiet, foreboding feeling to just be near him right now, his anger radiating in waves of heat that any cold blooded creature would feel a mile away. To put it in simpler terms, Randall was _pissed_.

And Sulley was no different.

Mike was getting edgy. He never left work without seeing Celia, and he wasn't going to start now. _Not_ because some reptilian monster wanted his help.

"Would you stop being racist for five minutes and just help us? Mike, I thought you were my best friend…"

"I'm _your_ friend," he pointed at Sulley, "_Not_ his. And I'm not racist. Just passionate."

"No you are definitely a little racist," came the two cents from number 531, a CDA member that Sulley practically had on a leash. The littler monster was in hand cuffs that kept him bound to a metal table in one of the main break rooms just outside the lobby. All three monsters shot him a glare once he spoke up, causing him to look even smaller when he shrank back out of fear.

The lights dimmed for a second, drawing their attention away from him and looking up at the ceiling.

"We'll take care of that later," Sulley said, cutting off whatever comment anyone had about the lights, "For now, Mike, please. We need as much help as we can get."

"What makes you think the CDA will let you go in there?"

"I'm not listening to a damn thing the CDA says," Randall muttered, " Now normally I wouldn't care what you did, how you did it, or if you were even successful at it. But listen closely, Wazowski. Your best friend needs you. I'm only tagging along because _my_ human is in there too. It's not about you. And it won't be for a while. Are you going to be a good friend, or a sad, selfish little green ball who does whatever he can to spoil his girlfriend because he's desperate to keep her around," Randall began to close the distance between himself and Mike, much to Sulley's protest, and began to look more menacing while he did so. His fronds started to stand high and alert, muscles tensing, teeth baring. Mike started to shy away, being too far away from Sulley to hide behind.

"I'm. Not. Helpi…."

"Michael Wazowski!"

Mike groaned and rolled his eye over to see Celia glaring back, all five snakes baring long fangs that could probably hurt if close enough to get bitten. The female monster entered the break room in a huff, crossing the distance between her and Mike.

"I wasn't even asked, and I am going to go help them. If you don't, and you dare try to talk to me again after this, I will make sure your green skin darkens to a bloody purple. Sulley is your best friend and a two-year-old is lost here. If you want to be my hero, googley-bear, you're going to have to step up to the plate."

"But schmoopsi-"

"Googley-bear," her tone was a soft warning that didn't accept no for an answer. Mike's shoulders slumped, completely defeated. His eye turned back to Sulley with a dull glare that said he wasn't finished.

"All right. All right…. but on one condition."

"Mike!"

"_Okay_!"

"Thanks, Celia," Sulley smiled, earning a beam back from the girl herself. Randall only nodded, not really in the mood to waste any more time.

"Okay now let's get going, the CDA are waiting. We're riding with Roz, right?" he asked, starting to leave them behind. He didn't wait for an answer. Randall left the break room, and went straight for the van. He wasn't spending another minute in this dump.

* * *

"Verdammt es(2)!"

He scream was cut short when the serpent's tail thrashed, pulling her away from him and nearly hitting her into a wall. Manny growled lowly, opening his mouth and roaring in her face. Jane screamed again, only this time it was out of fear. She sensed the lights flickered only slightly while she screamed but it wasn't enough to do anything but freak her out. The human girl braced herself against hot hair caused by his roar, completely blowing her hair back and almost causing her to flail.

"Versuchen Sie das mal wieder, kleines Madchen,(3)" he growled, her face becoming level with his once more. Jane's breath hitched in her throat, realizing that she was actually brought _closer_ to him than last time. Manny's tongue poked out of his mouth again, the muscle actually touching her this time. It took a second to occur to her that he was _messing_ with her.

Jane was at a loss of what to do. The tongue slapping her each time it flickered made her want to gag. If there was ever a snake she didn't like, it was this one. And he wasn't even a snake to begin with! She eyed his teeth for a moment while questioning her own sanity. If he hit her with his tongue one more time…

"Menschen sind so winzig …(4)" he mumbled just as his tongue had exited again. Unbeknownst to Jane, Manny wasn't just taunting her. He was having a bit of fun trying to freak her out. But in another truth, he was sizing her up. All monsters have been told for the past few centuries was that humans were toxic creatures. And now that he had one to make sure of this, he was kind of amused about how big of a lie their society had been told. This human was weak. She couldn't do anything but scream.

But Jane was having her own thoughts while hanging there upside down. After a seconds delay after his tongue had come out but didn't exactly touch her this time, Jane grabbed the soft muscle and gave it a good tug. Manny was taken by surprise and even leaned forward a little with her while pulled, glaring at him with nothing other than annoyance.

"What's the matter? Human got your tongue?" she taunted before she felt the pressure around her ankles tighten. Jane got a little worried and tugged harder, picturing herself playing tug-o-war with Sonic when he was still a puppy. Something in her snapped a bit, and Jane yanked so hard she thought she felt something rip. Manny's grip on her ankles loosened in shock and pain, immediately dropping her. Jane screamed and held tighter on the appendage, the sensation of falling causing her stomach to do flips.

Her weight tugged on his tongue, ripping the appendage again and Manny whipped his head in the opposite direction, as if doing so would pull his tongue from her grasp. But Jane held on, for a moment feeling as disoriented as George of the Jungle. Any moment now she would hit a tree while swinging on a snapping vine.

Manny jerked his head again and this time his tongue had actually snapped off.

Jane fell fast and hard and landed right on the midsection of the beast. Her body lay across his back, her head so dizzy she may just throw up again. But she then realized that she was still clutching Manny's tongue, and the monster didn't appreciate that. He felt her land hard on his back and turned his head to face her, what was left of his tongue hanging limp from his mouth.

He yelled something in slurred German but it wouldn't have been recognizable, not even to someone who spoke the language. Jane gulped, knowing very well he had intentions of killing her now. The human girl threw his tongue at him, confusing him for a moment. Manny was now lost aside from his hearing, but his rage had caused him to make a lot of angry yells. Therefore he couldn't hear very well to know where he was going, much less follow the sound of hallow footsteps after he felt the human slide off the side of his back.

Jane ran as fast as her legs could carry her across the basement, hearing the thrashing behind her. Manny eventually caught on and pursued her blindly, clumsily knocking over almost everything in his path. Eventually he felt his head ram hard into something cold and metallic, seizing him for a moment.

"Where did you two morons go?" Jane yelled, frantically looking for Fungus and Xavier. She started running and darting between crates, hoping that by the time Manny had regained himself he'd be slightly occupied running into everything else _but _her. Just as she passed about the fifth crate, though, a pair of arms grabbed what they could of her shirt and pulled her hard backwards. She let out a loud yelp and felt her back slam hard against the surface of the crate, looking back to see two pairs of angry eyes glaring back at her.

"Are you stupid?" Fungus yelled, flailing his arms to emphasize his anger. Xavier was holding a crying two-year-old who's whines had subsided to whimpers for now. Two of his tentacles were wrapped around her protectively while another wrapped halfway around her head to cover her ears. The bigger monster agreed silently, doing nothing other than giving her a glare that made her feel guilty.

"Why am I in trouble? He was going to eat me, or something!"

"You're drawing attention. Now Zack will come down here and kill all of us!" Xavier growled, "And out families too!"

"Well I'm sorry, okay?" Jane sighed, falling back against the crate again and sliding down into sitting position, "I didn't know what else to do. I didn't think I'd rip his whole tongue out!"

A moment passed by with nothing more said. Jane was expecting a bigger rant than that. She bowed her head shamefully, awaiting whatever they had to say next. But something dawned on her that second that it was eerily quiet now. There was no movement what-so-ever. She raised her head to see what had happened and found that the two monsters were gone, leaving her alone.

Jane gulped and peered around the crate she hid behind, not seeing Manny's large form anywhere. Her body began shivering while scared sobs started to build up in the back of her throat. She was alone in her worst nightmare. Jane swallowed hard and tried to build up her courage, straightening her posture some while looking around.

Suddenly the crate flew upwards and shattered against the ceiling, the wood and its contents falling to the ground around her. Jane huddled down with her hands and arms covering her head and neck. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were…

"Dynamite and bombs?" she choked, slowly looking up into the face of a heavily breathing, ticked off Manny. He roared again in what he assumed would be her face, every sharp tooth he had just inches from her head. Jane was frozen still with fear. If he slammed his mouth shut right about now, her head would be ripped clean off. It was obvious to her now that she was either going to let herself die, or put up a fight. Because it wasn't like the other two would help her at all. _No_, they were _hiding_. And here she was, a defenseless human, face to face with the scariest thing she'd ever seen.

This was officially the worst day of her life…

…So far.

His tail snatched her around the waist and picked her up off the ground in a flash. More slurred, angry German that she couldn't understand escaped his mouth, his attempting to talk without a tongue becoming difficult to watch. Manny kept his rant going and lifted her high up from the ground.

And then he dropped her.

Jane's stomach was doing flips again and when she hit the top of another crate and had the wood fall under her weight, the air was literally sent out of her lungs. She found it hard to breathe for a second before processing his tail making another grab at her. Jane struggled to her feet and turned around to run. There was no way in hell he was doing that to her again.

Her body was already throbbing with so much pain that it slowed her but after a second of disorientation Jane started to get her footing back on track. Within moments she was full on sprinting, Manny's tail not very far behind. He laughed at something and she turned the corner, his tail passing where she turned and eventually retracted. He lost her. And he knew it.

The large snake-like creature lowered his head to the ground, slithering in the direction he thought she had disappeared to. His head passed up the crate Jane was hiding behind, the corners of his mouth just next to her head. She held her breath and dared not to move, knowing that at this close a range he could probably hear her heart if he concentrated hard enough. The little muscle was pumping so hard that occasionally it was all she could hear. Like the sound wasn't even coming from her.

Jane knitted her eyebrows together in thought, glaring at the green skin that belonged to her knew worst nightmare. It hit her just then that she had been going about this entire day all wrong.

Yeah, she's probably going to need a therapist for the house burning down, her animals dieing, men in her house attacking her, and then finding herself in a parallel universe. But she didn't have time to go over that and sulk about it right now. At this moment, Jane needed to focus on living, getting out of here alive without committing a crime and sadly that meant not killing this thing. But she could at least knock him out. It'd be considered self-defense… right? She shouldn't be feeling sorry for herself. She should be thankful she was still living and keep fighting for the right to breathe.

Today wasn't over yet. And Jane was determined to see tomorrow.

'_Psst!'_

Manny's head had pulled back and he started looking in different directions, hopefully out of ear shot. Jane looked in the direction of the light hiss and walked around to the other side of the Crate, only to find a shaken Fungus.

"Did you two find a way out yet?" she asked, looking around for Xavier. Fungus looked too, a little more than upset that he couldn't find him, "No, but I'm sure they're fine. I'm trying to get _you_ out of here."

"Why are you worried about me?"

"Because you're Randall's human. And Randall… he's a good guy. Even if he's sort of scary."

"Fungus…" Jane started, her gaze softening. She wanted to tell him wrong, to tell him how much Randall had lied. She thought he had a wife, and kids that loved and were worried about him. That he was well liked and misunderstood when in reality he… just lied. That's all she could think about was the lies. And how mean and rude he was. And for Fungus to still see the good in him after that? The words she planned to say next changed at the last minute and Jane ended up asking something completely different, "…why are you here working for this guy?"

It was an honest question that she had to ask. Fungus really seemed like a nice guy. There was no reason for him to do something so bad and build something meant to kill. Nor was there a reason for him to work for someone like that… as far as she knew.

Fungus sighed and looked at the floor. His three eyes scanned the ground so he wouldn't have to look back up at Jane, his answer no more than a soft murmur.

"I was promised I'd get the respect I deserved. The first time I helped with the Scream Extractor I thought… I thought people would like me more. That I'd become more important and…"

"Fungus…"

The monster snapped his gaze up to see a soft smile playing on her lips. Jane looked sincere when she stretched out a hand and rested it on his shoulder, a comforting move that no one had ever really made, "You are important. You're very smart," she said, her brain pausing for more words to say. The weight of the situation became heavier after a sudden crash from across the huge basement. How big was this place anyway?

"But I need you right now to help me get out of here, Fungus. Again, you're very smart, and if that thing drops me one more time my body might just fall apart."

Fungus just remembered everything quickly and scanned the floor again, recalling something useful he had seen when trying to avoid Jane's gaze. His eyes fell upon a pile of rope that had to be around twenty feet long. He scurried over to the rope and pulled it up for Jane to see, a light bulb clicking on in his brain.

Manny had just ran into another wall. To his disappointment and growing anger, he could not pick up a thing on anyone in the room. He was essentially blind without any sense of smell to track his prey. All he had was hearing, and given they were in an old conjoined basement of about six apartment buildings, he was hearing a lot of things. But nothing in particular that would give away the creatures.

He knew they hadn't escaped up the stairs yet. Those old wooden things creaked a lot, he would know the second they stepped on the first one. The creature slithered in a direction where he swore he heard talking. After a moment his thick underbelly crawled over large chunks of metal and tubing, feeling the parts move under him as he went. This caused a low growl to form in the back of his throat. This was just great.

He remembered running into something metal, and afterwards it had shattered and broken, the pieces now all over the place. The only metal thing he could have hit was the Scream Extractor. And now he's broken it into a million pieces.

Perfect.

Something far off across the basement made a noise.

"Hey! Giant worm!"

Great, now she was taunting him? Manny growled louder, charging in the direction of the taunting. That little screamer wasn't getting away this time. He was going to slam her to the ground until her guts exploded. He opened his mouth in a loud roar, stretching it and showing off all his fangs. He heard the girl let out a squeak and before he knew it, felt something wedged in the corners of his mouth.

Jane and Fungus had stretched out the rope so that when Manny went by, it would get caught in his mouth. Fungus knew that Jane wanted to take care of this herself, to wear him out to exhaustion and make a run for it. Whatever made her think she could hold on was beyond him but Fungus had to trust her. It wasn't a half bad idea for someone who might be used to breaking horses. But for Jane? Maybe not so much.

None the less, she was determined to do it since it was the only thing they could come up with. When Manny rushed by letting out a loud roar, they stood on either side of the isle he was coming down, each behind a crate, and stretched out the rope. It caught his mouth when he went took him by surprise. The creature stopped and reared back, figuring out that it was stuck there. The rope was pulled back so tight it was like reins on a horse. He had no teeth near where they were to chew it off and the two that had done this were hanging freely from the rope.

"Here!" Fungus yelled, tossing his end of the rope in Jane's direction once he was lever with the ground. The end had swung around Manny's back and she caught it, holding on to both ends because now she knew she was in trouble.

Immediately Manny freaked out, slithering fast and roaring in a panic. He had to get this off him, he had no clue what it meant. Was he stuck, were they trying to behead him, was this some kind of wire? He had no clue what this was, he had no sight, smell or taste anymore and this really freaked him out. The large monster did crocodile-like death-rolls on the ground and picked up where he left off in his pace. The crook of his neck where Jane sat was the only place where he didn't slam into the ground each time, but it was so hard to hang on she might tire herself before Manny. It was like riding a rollercoaster without a seatbelt. She _had _to hold on. Her determination required it. The girl ducked each time he rolled and he eventually continued on, ramming his sides into the walls as if to scrape her off.

At this point Manny was inflicting more pain on himself than on his attacker, and yet nothing could stop him right now.

Fungus had found Xavier huddling in a corner in the far back, he and the child huddled together while he tried to keep her from sobbing louder. She was absolutely terrified of the monster on the other end of the room. Even scarier than the big purple one. She really needed Kitty right now. More so than ever before.

"Why is she doing that?" Xavier demanded, watching with worry each time Manny crossed the room and scraped his entire side along the concrete walls. Fungus smiled slightly, watching Jane's priceless expression each time she nearly hit something, "She thinks she can wear him out."

"She's going to get herself killed!"

Fungus disagreed. Though logically he shouldn't have let her do that, he had a gut feeling that she might be able to pull this off.

Jane leaned in with the turns and dips, trying to picture how the cowboys did this at rodeos. This was the hardest thing she'd ever done and even if she was cheating by holding onto something, it wasn't easy. Her palms were going to blister for sure, she could already feel her skin wearing out. If this lasted a little while longer they may even cramp up.

Manny dipped down low then shot his head upward, hitting the ceiling with the outer head. This caused some disorientation and the monster swiveled his head, repeating the move and got the same result each time. He'd hit the ceiling.

Boards cracked and fell each time he did this and created multiple places where the floor upstairs was no longer very stable. Some parts even caved in after he fell back down and nearly knocked Jane off his back. Manny jerked his head side to side and let out an angry roar. Jane looked in the direction they were heading, seeing the part of the ceiling where the scream extractor had been bolted up. Long, sharp pieces of metal were still hanging where it had been broken off. She became a little frantic and tried steering Manny away from it.

The monster would have none of it. Manny pulled against the ropes and dipped his head again, this time going up much faster and putting more body into it. He was going to smash her into the ceiling.

Jane looked up in horror when they came underneath the spot and watched as it seemed to get closer and closer. She had no other choice. Jane bailed. She let go of the ropes and leaned to the side, practically rolling off the back of his neck and landing on his midsection that had ended up by him for support.

She heard the sickening sound of the metal piercing flesh when Manny jerked his head up, and for a second his roars ceased completely. Choked sounds came from the back of the beast's throat and he was stuck there, the metal almost all the way through the top of his second head.

Fungus and Xavier looked on in awe, both swearing they could see the tips of the metal poking through the roof of the creature's mouth. Manny's tail flailed for a moment, albeit very weakly, and the appendage lightly slapped against Jane's ankle, wrapping around her leg and gave a slight squeeze before the grip loosened, and his body went limp. Jane looked up in awe and horror at what had just happened, watching blood drip from the very top of his head. Beads of the red liquid ran down the sides of his head and dripped down to the floor, making Jane step back in fear of getting hit by one.

"What the hell?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at the stairs to see a very dumbfounded Zack.

* * *

**_A/N:_** So one down, one more to go. Manny was never going to be a good guy, he was the kind of person that just loved hearing people scream. I never planned on him staying til' the end and sadly for him it ends here. He did it himself though, Jane tried to avoid it, right?

This is the most action packed chapter I think this story has. I'm kind of proud of myself on it. Anyway, just a few more chapters and this story is sadly over. I'll take a break before writing its sequel though, just to get some of the kinks in the plot out. ;) Don't worry though, I won't leave it without giving you guys a hint on what it's about!

Manny's translations...

1) Fish on the hook.

2) Damn it!

3) Try that again, little girl

4) People are so tiny...

These were all Google translated and the translator wasn't really wasn't really cooperating with me during the time I was writing it. So if there's any mistakes let me know and I'll fix them. =)

And for the review replies...

**DarkraixCresselia:** You guessed right! It was! =) And she also had to fight him. I'm sure she hated that. Yeah, Jane misses Randall, she just doesn't want to admit it. ;D And I thought it'd be cute that Boo would still try to be learning her colors. And the computer virus... honestly it wasn't something I thought of until I got the idea to make 531 a traitor. It turned out awesome, though, didn't it? And thanks! =D**  
**

**badkidoh:** Thanks! ^^

**Elemental Queen:** Aww thankyou. I'm glad you liked the last one, hope this one was just as good. It was really fun to write.

**Lonelyfairy:** BLECH is right! School is too exhausting, I lose so much sleep during the school year. I'm really glad you liked the last one though. This chapter was so awesome to write, all my inspiration came back. And I don't mind that you guys didn't review real soon, I'm just glad you were still able to read them. ^^ Thanks so much!

**MR.E:** Thank you so much. ^^ Sadly I'm hardly able to do two stories at a time. My main focus goes on this one and a couple series of one-shots. But I hope you find someone who can. =)

**Kyuu Mikorina:** Thanks! =D I'm glad you're loving it. I promise I wont let you down!

**TheShiz:** I know I feel so bad. So sorry I took forever. I thought for a bit that I lost all you wonderful reviewers! Thank you so much for not giving up hope just yet and thanks again for the compliment. ^^ It's so fun taking people by surprise~

**BearsRUs:** Yeah the odds were pretty against her, weren't they? Glad you loved the last chapter so much. I tried making this one as action packed as possible. Sadly Manny didn't talk much, but he did get a lot of fame in it. Thanks so much for still reading after such a long while with no update. Hope you liked this one too! x)

**ClosetWerewolf808:** Nope! Lol, they're getting their humans back. Even if it means hurting someone. ;D

**Oriana:** YAY! I'm glad you decided to take a peek to see if I updated. I love all these reviews and I started feeling awful, that I had let everyone down. I'm so glad everyone is still reading though. To be honest I didn't see the virus coming either until I thought making 531 a double agent would be a good idea. So it caught me off guard too but I'm glad you liked it. And thanks! I'm going to try to do my best this year ^^; I struggle with school sometimes, especially math...

_**YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!**_


	16. Boom!

_**N/A:**_ I really have no excuse for this being so late. I'm sorry I put this story on such a long Hiatus, but after getting my life back together a bit I promise I'm going to finish this story and all the others that I have been writing as well.

**_Disclaimer:_** Are these really necessary? The word FAN is even in the site name, that should be a huge disclaimer itself, right? Anyway, I don't own Monsters Inc.

* * *

Jane use to have a friend in high school named Alison. She was short, tiny, had long dirty blonde hair that rarely seemed brushed and also had an trouble maintaining her weight due to a high metabolism. Today she's still learning how to be a biology teacher in a high school up in Missouri. But back then, Jane distinctly remembered how often Alison's small frail body use to shake. Whether the girl was happy, sad, angry, or just going through the day, her arms and legs were always shaking. And Jane never knew why.

But her body was quivering so hard right now that she couldn't help but be reminded of her friend that decided to move far away and lose touch with her. Jane's throat had suddenly felt dry and she couldn't even bring herself to swallow. Her bladder was straining not to lose control and if she tried to move at all her legs just might give out.

She had seen Zack before but the sight of him then wasn't anywhere near as scary as he looked now. His shoulders rose and fell with his deep breathing, each exhale letting out a loud growl that she couldn't relate anything to. The sound was nearly out of this world and it shook the entire basement of the apartment. The only other noise in the room was the soft swishing of his tail, swaying back and forth along the concrete floor. She felt her brain straining, telling her body to run and to run as fast as it could but her body was not reacting.

Zack's eyes looked from Jane and once again traced the long lifeless body of Manny. He felt his tail run over something soft and wet. A glance over his shoulder revealed something long and black and to his curiosity he picked it up. It was Manny's tongue. Again his eyes snapped back up to Jane.

He felt his muscles tense with a more intense level of anger, all of his fang-like teeth showing themselves in a nasty snarl in the girl's direction. His anger was not at Manny's death but at the fact that a _human_ had managed to kill him. He snapped his gaze back at Jane and let out a louder, seething growl that didn't even hint exactly how angry this had made him.

Human's were weak and he did _not _hire a monster easy enough for even Mr. Sullivan to kill. This was unbelievable to him.

Jane flinched when he had roared and felt herself shivering even more.

Xavier covered the two-year-old's ears when he heard the roar, hoping it would muffle the sound enough that it wouldn't scare her. It didn't work. Boo's tiny body jolted at the noise and she began to cry, knowing instantly the sound wasn't good. Fungus was sitting just a foot away and began to making little cooing noises, attempting to shush her. But Boo's crying grew from little whimpers to whines and eventually she was wailing into what would be Xavier's shoulder.

Zack heard the cries and guessed that they were on the other side of the room behind a stack of crates. Damn, he had a bunch of traitors working for him! Guessing the girl was too scared to move, he turned his attention back to Jane and let out another growl, beginning to move in the direction of the sound. After he had ventured far enough that his back was to her, Jane's short, panicked breath hitched in her throat and without even thinking she picked up the rope that she had used to hang onto Manny with. Another burst of adrenaline hit her like a speeding truck and she burst into a run holding the rope with both fists.

He didn't expect her to react like this and Zack flexed his claws, looking over his shoulder ready to swipe at her and shred her weak body into pieces. But he was taken by surprise when she ran up his back and suddenly there was something across his throat. He felt her tug with all of the weight in her body and suddenly he couldn't breathe. Zack staggered back a few steps before gritting his teeth and putting some weight in his upper body and leaning forward, using his tail to help him balance himself. He raised his claws to grab at the rope and with a powerful pull of his own, threw the girl off of him.

He saw her fly over his head and she slammed into the ground on her back right in front of him, her face full of surprise. Zack stood over her and couldn't help but laugh a little. Kid had guts, but he was about to spill them anyway. He lifted his foot, ready to stomp on her head and squish her like a bug. Her eyes widened and Jane didn't look away. The adrenaline rush gone, Jane was just about to soil herself but something bounced off of Zack's head and hit her in the chest. She jolted out of fear at the contact but was confused when she realized what it was.

Just a chipped piece of wood.

Another one hit the monster in the face and Zack looked up to see Fungus hiding halfway behind a crate, ready to throw a third chunk of wood. While he was distracted Jane rolled out from underneath him and made a brake for it to the stairs. She head Zack's foot stomp on the concrete where she was and that only encouraged her to run faster. Jane dared not to turn back and successfully she made it to the stairs, hearing the monster chasing after her.

* * *

"Schmoopsie Poo slow down! You're going to kill us!" Mike wailed, clinging to the passenger seat of his car. Though Mike had agreed to help everyone retrieve the humans, he didn't agree to riding in the same car as Randall. No one could get him into the CDA van with the reptilian monster, and so Celia had offered to drive him. In his car. Even though the honest statement was simply because Mike's car was faster than her own, a bit of it was also in spite of him for being a jerk. That was also one of the reasons she wanted to drive, if not to ensure that Mike would pretend to follow and then veer off after a few blocks. Celia ignored Mike's cries each time she turned the corner to keep up with the speeding van, or when they ran a red light.

The police had actually offered to escort them to the location the 'CDA' member had claimed they were in, but Roz guessed that if they heard the sirens coming that Zack would make a run for it and the search would stretch even longer. But to avoid any dangerous accidents they did take a less popular rout through the city. The risk was still high anyway, nonetheless.

"Googley Bear, if you scream one more time I will put a pretty scratch in your finish," Celia said, a little too sweetly, glancing over a him and batting her eye. Make swallowed hard and pushed himself further into the seat, wishing he had about ten seat belts right now.

Number 531 had given them directions under Randall and Sully's nasty glares. Celia was told that they didn't do anything to get them out of him but… she wasn't convinced. He was still in the van with them reassuring they were going the right way. Celia accelerated a little to keep up with the van and turned left right after them. She heard Mike crying again and snapped her head over ot say something when he interrupted her.

"LOOK OUT YOU'RE ABOUT TO-"

Celia snapped her head back and screamed. The van had screeched to a stop in front of an old apartment building perpendicular to the street they were on. Celia screamed and immediately stomped on the brakes, but the peddle went straight down with no reaction.

"Mike, when was the last time you changed your brakes?"

"I don't know!"

They both screamed as the car ramped up the thin steps of the building.

* * *

Jane made it up the stairs and turned to go up another flight. Zack was at the bottom of the stiars by the time she was halfway up the second flight and jumped after he had gotten halfway up, skipping the next half of the stairs. He slid across the floor once he reached the top and started for the next set when a loud crash behind him caused the entire building to shake. Zack stopped in his tracks and turned around to see to large eyes staring at him, each belonging to a different monster. The front of the car was battered and smashed and rubble was still falling and denting the rest of it, the red paint scratched off in large patches around the front, top and sides. The two inside her recognized easily from news reports.

Mr. Sullivan's friends.

Jane staggered halfway up the stares and hung her head over the railing to see what had happened. She was hoping part of the building collapsed on Zack but to her surprise it was something entirely different. Zack snapped his head back in her direction, and after letting out a loud yelp she ran further up the stairs. Jane made it to the top floor after a few more sets of flights but by then she had run out of energy.

She now understood why those stupid blondes run up the stairs in scary movies. She was so blind with fear right now that, even if she were to pass out puking, she would keep running blinded by fear. The need to run up and out of Zack's reach had driven her up the steps and now she felt that she could no longer laugh at the scary movies presenting such a scene. Though her legs could carry her further Jane felt as if her lungs may explode just trying to catch her breath, and by the time she reached the last three steps to the top she couldn't move any more.

"I have run more today than I ever have in high school," she said to herself, leaning against the railing on the stairs. After a moment she realized that Zack was no longer on her tail. In fact, he wasn't even following her anymore! She looked over the railing for any sign of the monster but she couldn't see anything. Jane shuddered; it was probably a trick. She backed up away from the railing and walked into the first door she saw. Jane turned around and closed the door behind her, resting her forehead against the door and listened for any signs of Zack walking up the stairs.

Jane shuddered again and tried to silently catch her breath.

"Hello?"

"Gah!"

Jane spun around and screamed, slamming her back into the door. In the middle of the room, hanging upside down was a female monster that sort of resembled Sully. She looked at the human girl with wide eyes full of shock and surprise but slowly the look melted into a tired smile.

"Think you could help me out?" she asked, "The blood is starting to rush to my head."

Jane didn't exactly move from where she was but she nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath that would have been used as another scream if the other didn't say anything. Jane hesitantly closed the distance between herself and the monster and looked at the ropes tied around her claws.

"Just untie my claws please," she asked, "I can handle the rest."

* * *

"Lock the door, lock the door, lock the door, LOCK THE DOOR!" Mike screamed, hitting the lock button rapidly. Celia slowly reached over to the button on her side and locked the car, not taking her eye off of the sight before him.

The monster they had nearly hit had looked at them and began to bound up the stairs once more, but before he could take another step a purple and blue had tackled him out of nowhere, pulling him back down the stairs. Randall disappeared after he had tackled Zack and retreated off of the monster now that he had his attention. His emerald green eyes bore into Zack's black ones as he bared his own teeth at the threatening monster. Before either could make a move, a flash of red caught his attention.

It was Fungus.

The three-eyed monster peered around the entrance to the basement, trying to see if the coast was clear. As soon as he spotted Zack's green skin he jumped and disappeared around the corner. But he had to double-take. Randall had figured it was because of him. His fronds twitched slightly, then flattened back against his skull when his gaze turned back to Zack, teeth still bared. He couldn't get distracted, not now. He'd deal with Fungus later.

An unspoken challenge passed through the two and without warning Zack leapt at Randall, flashing teeth and claws. Though Randall was taken off guard by the act he was still faster. Inches before the green monster had reached him the other had ducked out of the way, turning invisible instantly. He coiled around Zack's neck and constricted him, using all four hands to ward off his claws the best he could. The larger monster let out a growl that didn't seem as threatening as it could right now. After he wasted his breath on that, Zack choked a little and tried to wheeze in as much air as he could.

"Shouldn't you be looking for that pretty little girl of yours?" he rasped. Randall froze for just a second, taken off guard by the question. Zack took this opportunity to grab what he could of Randall's tail coiled around his throat and squeezed, shocking the reptilian monster. Instantly Randall became visible again and before he could counter, he was flung off the other. Zack, still keeping a grip on his tail with one hand, slashed at him with the other. Randall flailed and dodged it by just a hair, using that moment to roll onto his feet and lash at Zack's arm, attempting to loosen his grip on his tail.

Randall sank his teeth successfully into the larger monster's shoulder, surprising the other enough for him to drop his tail. Zack grabbed Randall by his fronds and pulled him away, flinging the lizard monster off of him. Randall flew into a wall and slumped to the floor, the air knocked out of him. Groaning, he started to sit up, looking up at Zack once more. The snarl that was on his face moments before returned again with a new adrenaline rush. He sat up on all eight legs and arched his back, ready to pounce.

"Freeze!"

"Stay right there!"

"Don't move!"

Flashlights blinded Randall for only a moment, and Zack turned around as well, realizing the dangers he was now in.

CDA agents swarmed in and began to surround the two, a few braver ones trying to form a wall between Randall and Zack. They were all holding tranquilizer guns, pointing them at Zack defensively. After most of them were in position the room was eerily quiet, no one moving a muscle. Randall craned his neck a little to see past some of the agents, and caught a smirk placed on Zack's expression. What the hell was he smirking about? The reptilian monster snarled, his fronds lowering again.

"Where are the humans?" an agent demanded, pointing his gun further as he talked. Zack scanned the yellow suits around him, trying to stifle the laughter in his throat. They were so hell-bent on finding him they had no clue what was really going on in the factory. It dawned on him then how easy this had been, and it made him chuckle. His eyes fixed on the agent who addressed him after he repeated his question. Maybe he could humor them…

"They're already dead," he snickered, hearing the growl that came from Randall, but didn't glance in his direction. The agent who addressed him wasn't easily fooled though. He took the receiver from his chest pocket and spoke into it, sending four more CDA members form outside into the building. The four newcomers didn't spare the others a passing glance. Two went down the stairs into the basement and the other two headed for the stairs.

Now Zack grew serious. If they found that girl alive she'd get away with killing his henchmen. And there was no way in hell he was about to let that happen. Before any of the agents could do anything else to make sure he stays in one spot he leapt up the stairs, pushing the two who were halfway up the first flight down face first into the steps. Randall wasted no time in following him, moving as swiftly up the steps as he could manage.

Zack began skipping full sets of stairs as he continued his way up the stair cases, sniffing out the girl's trail as he went. He eventually reached the top of the steps and traced her scent up to the first door. His office.

Just as he was halfway up the last set, the door opened and there stood Jane, stunned with shock to see him coming after her soon as she was about to exit. He could hear her small gasp and was just three feet away from shredding her up before something pulled her out of his way, and Eliza's furry form tackled him instead.

The two tumbled backwards from the impact and rolled down the stairs, a huge mess of fur and claws. Randall had reached the top flight just in time to see the action and pressed himself against the wall in order to move out of the way. A flash of orange and green buzzed by with the fresh smell of blood. Eventually they broke apart and Eliza stood alone at the top of the stairs while Zack regained himself at the bottom of the same set. Their eyes locked and a moment of threatening growls took place between them, both looking battered but Eliza having the worst of it. She snarled at Zack, baring all of her teeth and eventually charged again. Zack moved out of her way and grabbed her by the scruff as she passed him, tossing her down the other set of stairs.

Randall looked over the side of the railing in order to watch the scene that had taken him off guard. He was about to continue up the stairs to see if Jane was there before a thunder of footsteps rushing down the stairs went by. Randall spun one way, facing the direction hew as originally going and was met by nothing. Whatever it was had already passed and he looked the other way to see Jane, a determined look on her face. He noticed that she was carrying a lighter in her hand, nervously running her thumb on the switch, causing sparks but no flame that caught it.

Without hesitation he set after her, catching up with her quickly. Jane looked at him, jerking her head in Zack's direction as they neared the set of stairs he was having battle with Eliza on. There was a set look in her eyes that held no emotion other than the pure instinct to survive. Jane was going to do something huge and she was mustering all the courage she had in order to do so. Randall didn't realize that hey had stopped for a moment, standing at the top of the stairs leading down to Zack and Eliza, scuffling on the stairs once more. He did, however, catch the communication passing between him and Jane, the message she was giving him clear on her face.

There was no time for hellos, goodbyes, I'm sorry, I hate you, or any kind of verbal communication. Not even a simple pat on the shoulder. There was too much going on and both had been through too much to say anything. But she needed back up, she needed Randall to cover her while she ran past Zack unscathed and managed to get him to follow her at the same time. Without her saying a word, Randall understood. He passed her on the stairs and headed down them.

Eliza was pinned down by her shoulders, arms held behind her back while Zack held her down. He was out of her reach entirely and if he gave her just one good rip to her neck or a good blow to the back of her head, she knew she was finished. But that didn't keep her from trying. Under his weight she flailed and thrashed, hoping she would wiggle free before he could do any more damage than just twisting her arms, but it was no use.

Just before she was about to give up there was a grunt, and Zack's weight was lifted from her. She turned to her side to see Randall on Zack's back after he had just tackled him, slamming the larger of the two into a wall. Zack was just about to turn around and slash at him when Jane's small figure ran past them down the stairs, making it safely to the end of the set. Just before she went down the last flight she turned and held up the light defiantly, flicking her thumb lighting a flame.

"Just wait 'til the CDA finds out what you hid in your basement!" She yelled, making sure Zack saw the flame before she let go, put it out, and continued down the final set of stairs. Jane didn't see what happened next. She continued down the stairs as fast as she could and before reaching the bottom near the foyer she caught sight of Xavier and Fungus, slowly being led out of the building by CDA members and greeted by Sully, who happily took Boo from Xavier's arms. She swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing down the stairs, "Everybody get out! The building's about to explode!"

Before anyone could question or stop her, Jane pushed her way through the crowd of agents, and past Mike and Sully who were just united with boo, toward the basement. She reached the descending stairs successfully and without question from anyone else, scurrying to the bottom as fast as she could.

Zack wasn't very far behind. He heard her warning to everyone else and felt a wave of anger surge through. She was _not_ going to waste all of those explosives he had been saving up for after there is no scream left. And she wasn't going to kill him in the process of it, either. He stumbled down the stairs just after her and immediately the CDA members began shooting their tranquilizers at him. He managed to dodge all but one and tried to pull it out as fast as he could.

He closed the basement door behind him and clocked it, stalling the agents for just a little while. At least, long enough for him to finish the girl off. When he made it to the bottom of the stairs, off to his left he heard her yell, "Think fast!"

Zack turned around and caught a flying projectile that she had thrown at him, realizing shortly after that it was a lit stick of dynamite, with only a few seconds away from exploding. He cursed loudly and threw it away from him, recoiling and crouching down just as there was a loud 'boom' that seemed to shake him. He straightened his posture and glared at her, letting out a loud growl.

"That was only a fourth," she said, switching on the lighter and bringing the flame closer to a long thread. Her gaze shot back up at him and her eyes narrowed, her face lit up solely by the flame, "This one, however, is a full stick," she said, raising her chin as the thread began to smoke.

* * *

**_N/A:_** Dun dun dunnn! There's probably a good two chapters left on this, one of which being the Epilogue. This chapter wasn't that great because... well, over half of it was written while I was half asleep, but I had to get it done. This is by far the longest story I have ever written. Aside from my old cruddy ones. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I'm not going to do any review replies today because I am so tired, and I don't want to wait to put this up. So basically, I'm lazy. Sorry guys, but I want you all to know that you are wonderful reviewers and I'm glad you have read this story or at least gave it a chance, whether or not you're still reading. I love you all and wish you the very best, and thank you, thank you, thank you so much again for reading. It means a lot to me. =)

And to anyone who is reading this now and is about to leave a flame, don't waste your time. Put your energy into something else because flaming this at least will give you no reaction if you do. I don't mind your opinion, we're all intitled to one, but there's a difference between speaking your mind and setting out to hurt everyone else, so just don't do it. You're going to make me think that whatever flame you put through here is just a reflection of what you think of yourself and I don't want to pity anyone.

...ahem, sorry for the rant. Anyway, love you all for reading, whether or not you liked and I hope for the best for all of you. Thanks so much again, you've all meant a lot to me throughout this story and still will. You guys gave this story a reason to stick it out til' the end and it's going to. =D


	17. Blackout

_**A/N:**_ I feel like my writing has gotten worse since I've started this. xD Anyway I have a game plan now. I thought this was going to be the last chapter but then as I was finishing it I remembered 'Oh yeah! Silly me- I still have one more plot twist that I have to tie up.' So now there will be one more chapter after this, which will be very uneventful compared to this one, and then an epilogue.

So how should this play out? Should Jane stay or go back? Let's take a vote and see!

_**Warning: THERE IS BLOOD IN THIS CHAPTER.**_

Don't sue...

**I don't own Monster's Inc.**

* * *

The basement was devastatingly silent. Jane's grey eyes fluttered open almost painfully to see the damage. She was met with a scene of total destruction. Blown up boxes and debris was scattered everywhere; so much so that she was covered in junk. That was the most she could make out of the dark shapes without any lighting. A barely visible thick haze coated underground area that had the strawberry-blonde choking in seconds.

Wait… something was wrong…

She… she couldn't hear anything…!

After her coughing fit had passed, Jane had let out a fake cough for testing. Sure enough, she couldn't hear it despite the raw feeling that stung her throat. The slight pain was a matter pushed to the back of her mind along with her lost sense of hearing. Jane squinted past the smoke in a blind attempt to find any signs of life. Another tickle at the back of her throat had her gagging once more. She had to get up. Muscles clenched along her back protested against her will, almost begging the sore girl not to move. Thin arms were barely able to support the frail, broken body of Jane as she struggled. It was almost as if her triceps didn't agree with her either. Eventually she came to a resting position propped up on her elbows. The effort required to sit up this much had left the woman exhausted and breathless.

_"I did lie to you."_

Oh Randall…

_"I did all of those things you just accused me of."_

_I hope you got out in time…_ she thought, straining to look up again. The full stick she had lit not ten minutes ago had been tossed in Zack's direction. As large and terrifying her opponent was, hopefully he was just as stupid. Unfortunately he didn't catch it and explode like she hoped. Instead, she came to the realization, yet again, that she was an idiot.

Could she do anything _right_ today?

A huge explosion in the immediate future had the two enemies diving for cover. Both lunged in opposite directions just as the dynamite released it's maximum potential in one massive outburst. Along with it, two other boxes burst open in a hot, flaming mess that seemed to shake the earth to its core. Jane couldn't recall much afterwards.

No one could say she didn't warn the others occupying the building. The copper haired girl had only hoped her reptilian friend was dragged out in time. Surviving through the explosion, albeit just, was not foreseen by her at all. However, she won't live through the hell Randall will surely give her for pulling a dangerous stunt.

Suddenly her eardrums stung with a pain that rivaled her already aching head. The unpleasant feeling had Jane's muscles clenched and her teeth grinding. Slowly but surely, past the high-pitched sound that burned her inner ear, she began to hear again. The other noises she barely picked up were hard to make out, let alone notice. With no way to describe the sound, Jane covered her ears and let out a choked cry. Her own voice was very muffled and barely audible. A few seconds passed before she was able to tell that it was her own voice at all. Still, there was another sound; it was so faint, it almost went unnoticed.

"_Jane."_

Grey eyes shifted in a blind attempt to pinpoint the source of the sound. Stinging tears of pain blurred her vision. Forced to close her eyes, Jane let out another groan. Someone said her name. She _knew_ that was her name. Maybe if she could yell loud enough they would find her.

"_Jane!"_

There it was again, even louder this time! Jane tried to call out for help but had ended up choking instead. The coughing fit wracked her body violently, causing a chunk of wood to fall from her back. How long had that been there? Why wasn't it noticed? It didn't matter; there were more important things to worry about. More important things like two sets of hands grabbing her arms and pulling her up out of the rubble.

As thankful as she was, Jane didn't appreciate the god-awful pain that came with becoming vertical again.

"OwowowowowowOW!" she cried, hardly able to support herself now that she was standing. Whoever had her ignored the pained protests and began inspecting her immediately. Squinting past the pained tears, Jane came face to face with Randall. She could practically feel the relief that took over her features that was soon replaced by fear. His emerald eyes bore into her while expressing approximately 20 percent relief, 15 percent caring, and 65 percent fury.

Oh she was _so_ in for it.

Trying to explain would be absolutely hopeless; the expression on his face had confirmed that Randall would only hear what he wanted to. During the brief silence that took place between both emotionally exhausted beings, something else came to Jane's attention. The material that made up the ceiling above them made a sound of protest against the weight it was currently holding. Now painfully aware of the building's creaks and groans, the human's eyes snapped back to the monster before her.

"You're an idiot," the narcissist creature before her growled. Well, it wasn't like she was already acquainted with her currently low IQ. However when Randall had to say it to her like she had no clue up until now, it just added more salt to an open wound. Jane didn't know whether to ignore the blow and cling to him like he was a teddy bear, or come up with a response of her own. Either way, she wasn't given the opportunity to do anything, for the building began groaning in protest once more.

"What's-"

"Your _plan_ weakened the building. We've gotta get out of here; _now_."

"Then why-"

"I'll explain later."

Randall answered her questions before she even said them. Partly impressed, and also annoyed, Jane could only stare back at him in response. Her reptilian monster shook his head and set her down quickly. The moment she was supporting her own weight, another cry of pain ripped from her throat. Instantly Randall froze on the spot, watching her as if she may collapse. With how badly it hurt to put any weight on her left leg, she might do just that.

Now supporting herself with her right leg alone, she grabbed Randall's shoulders for extra stability. Hot, steaming, salty tears of pain slipped down her dust-covered face and blurred her vision instantly. Randall responded by trying to help steady her, two hands on her shoulders and the other two at her sides. Jane didn't want to take a single step, fearing that the next surge of pain might make her throw up. It was then she heard the monster before her take a sharp inhale, teeth bared in a pained grimace. "Jane...your _leg_…"

"It hurts," she whined, daring to glance down. What she saw made her gasp.

A large chunk of a wooden crate had lodged itself into her calf where a hole in her pants had been ripped. The flesh surrounding the wound looked inflamed, red, angry, and soaked with blood. Jane's breath hitched in her throat, immediate panic rising within the pit of her stomach. "Take…take it out! Randall, get it out!" she screamed, one hand hovering over the object yet too afraid to touch it.

"Are you stupid?!" he practically screamed, smacking her hand away from it like one would a child, "We're leaving. There's an ambulance outside, they'll help."

"_But I can't walk!_" the girl hissed through clenched teeth. Randall looked one final time between the foreign body in her leg and her large, tear-stained grey eyes.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, bracing himself for whatever he had in mind. Several emotions flashed across those grey orbs, trying to decipher why he would ask such a thing at a time like this. The ceiling above them shook once more, the sound of its strained groans and small debris falling loose became the only sound for upwards three breaths. Finally she settled on confused, not bothering to think too hard on it for now. Taking a deep breath, she finally responded, "…of course…"

That was all he needed.

With both left hands bracing her side, Randall bend over and wrapped his other two arms around the back of her thighs. At first the human was confused, "Randall, what are you-" she was cut short into a scream of agony while being lifted off the ground, her muscles tensing all over in a futile attempt to endure it. As a result, she curled into him, the crown of her head just under Randall's jaw. The frazzled hairs tickled his scales lightly, and it was then he also noticed that about a fourth of her copper hair was singed.

Jane's stifled cries of pain fell into soft groans as she slowly calmed down. Her breathing had become deep and labored, the sounds coming out with each long, slow exhale. Randall's eyes shifted from her injured leg to the stairway leading to safety. Already he could faintly see the bright beams of flashlights searching through the cracks of fallen debris in front of the entryway. If he played things just right, he'd be able to pass her off to them through the crack he squeezed in through, and would follow her shortly after.

_"Do you trust me?"_

_ "...of course…"_

He was getting her out of here.

Randall didn't make two steps until matters got immediately worse.

For starters, the ceiling began to finally collapse one bit at a time. A particularly large piece of wood that had been bracing the ceiling came down on his tail with enough force that the monster almost dropped his human companion. At this point he was practically nailed to the spot.

To make matters worse, the human herself was separated from him only seconds after. Randall gasped helplessly as Jane was pulled kicking and screaming out of his grasp, being held up by a chunk of strawberry blonde hair clutched into a dark green fist.

Zack had also survived the explosion, and was now glaring at the foreign creature he now had his claws on.

"_You_ are one interesting specimen," he growled, holding her up so that she was eye level with him, "Such a small…_thing_. A nuisance! You've completely ruined everything and I'm not sure I understand_ how_."

His eyes were filled with absolute hatred that contradicted the calm manor in which he was speaking. It became clear to Jane as she hung there that Zack knew when he was beaten, and that he'd respectfully repay the favor. His crocodile-like muzzle twitched into a nasty grin that seemed more like him, his free claw shooting out and grasping the wooden spike in her leg. "As they say…an eye for an eye."

Randall's eyes widened in realization and he began immediately struggling with the wood holding down his tail.

_No, no, no, no_, Jane mentally pleaded. It was no use. In one twitch of his wrist, the piece of wood that had assaulted her had been wrenched free. A blood-curdling scream erupted from the back of her throat loud enough to crack glass. Tears welled up in her eyes again, not hesitating to flood her vision and fall down her face as soon as they came. Zack inspected the blood now dripping from the wound, hitting the ground in a rhythmic _pat…pat…pat_.

The other monster not too far away let out a feral growl that had caught his attention. "_Oh_, I forgot about that," he said lightly, "You like this human."

Despite his attempt at conversation, Zack watched with humor as Randall pulled against the trapped appendage to snap at him. Jane writhed a little, but didn't do much more. With saltwater streaks still running down her face, she opened one eye in a squint to look at Randall. Both beings knew that he wasn't denying the accusation. On one hand, the human felt a massive surge of relief. On the other hand, giving Zack the information may not be the best idea.

"That's…_hilarious_!" he barked out in laughter, bringing up the hand holding the spike to wipe away tears of mirth, "After all you did to lie to her, bring her down, make her feel like a fool! You _used_ her."

As if saying it once wasn't enough, Zack brought Jane to his face once more, this time addressing her. "He used you, made ya feel awful, after all you had done for him too. And _now_ he has the balls to come and try to redeem himself! What an idiot!"

His laughing was cut short by another feral screech from Randall's direction. Emerald eyes practically glowing with rage, the reptilian creature bared his teeth in the nastiest snarl he'd ever expressed. Zack's wide grin fell to a look of contempt as he eyed him. "It'd be a shame to come all this way just to watch me gut her like a fish in front of ya, wouldn't it?"

"…he's not an idiot."

Jane's breathing fell back into rhythmic heaves as she tried to deal with the pain being dealt to her at the moment. Though the tears had not yet ceased leaking from the corners of her eyes, the grey orbs themselves portrayed an oncoming storm. Now that she had their undivided attention, her gaze locked onto Zack's, ready to unleash every last amount of energy she had left. "Randall is probably the smartest guy-… monster I now," she sent him an apologetic glance, "I'd already forgiven him for all the things he did, even before I punched him in the face. But that's beside the point! He did what he could to get back, and I understand that. Hell, I'd do the same thing if I found some random, gullible person in the middle of nowhere that would help me. His lying and using me did not go unrewarded. He's back now, isn't he? That's all I'd ever wanted.

"And Randall…I'm sorry. For…well…everything," she concluded, not oblivious to the shift in emotions on Zack's face. The tears still leaking from her eyes increased for just a brief moment when she realized this would be the only opportunity for her to say it. Looking into his emerald eyes as if it were the last time, she forced a soft smile on her face. Jane had lost everything at this point. Everything except for Randall. If getting killed stalled Zack long enough for the CDA to clear a pathway and spare him, then she'd gladly take the fall. The forced smile became genuine just thinking of it, and saying her last few words became a lot easier than they had before.

"I like you, too…"

It was subtle at first, but the low growl of annoyance coming from her captor's chest had instantly escalated to a roar of rage. Zack held Jane out and thrust the wooden weapon into her abdomen. For one brief moment the girl swore she saw her life flash before her eyes. Memories of her childhood filled her vision, a fourteen-year-old naïve adolescent running alongside a smaller version of Sonic. One memory of her family having various dinners at home before they split apart. Building a house that she soon would be abandoned in all on her own. Becoming friends with Kate. Fighting with Kylie. Losing Ryan. Saving Randall. Trying to fix her truck. Reminiscing over her family.

Her eyes squeezed shut through the pain of some memories, expecting to feel excruciating pain coming from her abdomen.

…but the pain never came.

Unbeknownst to either him or Jane, Randall _had_ been able to get free. It was very last minute and he even surprised himself. The second he dropped on all eights and prepared to lunge, a hand landed on a sharp piece of metal. Automatically it was considered a weapon to attack with, logical thinking completely overridden with the urge to inflict a wound on the other monster. Initially plan was to stab him. Part way through the desperate lunge towards the two, he opted to free Jane with it instead.

He sliced through her long hair, using his other three arms to catch her and make a break for the exit instead. As soon as he braced Jane's frail frame against him, a powerful blow to his back sent him to the ground again.

Zack's assult with the makeshift weapon may not have hit his original target, but either way he now had two bleeding creatures writhing on the floor. Randall now had a gash running from his back to his side. In mid-fall he had adjusted himself so that he would hit the ground first, but the impact still ended up with Jane rolling away from him.

"Randall!" she cried, her voice sounding absolutely petrified. Zack stood over the monster in question, glaring down at the reptilian creature like he was simply a bug that was about to get squished. Actually, that is exactly what Zack had in mind. The larger monster lifted his foot and hovered it over Randall's head.

"I don't think so," an entirely new voice growled from just a few feet away. Zack hardly had any time to look up and see; something that rivaled him in size and mass slammed into him. Randall thought he'd never been so happy or relieved to see the newcomer in all his life. He wasn't the only one to come through the blocked entryway though.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on," came the rushed voice of a worried Sullivan. Randall did a double take, looking again at the identical monster scuffling with Zack on the ground. Now with a clearer view, the form that seemed so strikingly similar to their large friend seemed more feminine the second time they saw it. Neither was given the opportunity to call for Eliza, the building beginning to give a final shake as the rest of it started to collapse. Sullivan scooped both creatures up, one in each arm in such a swift movement that Jane didn't have time to protest. She screeched in pain again, as did Randall, while the large furry monster ran with both parties towards the exit.

Eliza struggled not far behind them to untangle herself from the enemy. In the midst of their shuffle, Zack had managed to get one claw on her throat and squeezed as hard as he could. Not easily deterred, the female monster continued to growl back with two large paws pinned to his neck. Just when she thought she would pass out from lack of oxygen, a chunk of debris fell from the ceiling and hit the back of Zack's head. She was freed instantly, and took this opportunity to turn and run as well.

* * *

Boo had done nothing but cry ever since Sully had left them to go inside the apartment building. Once again, he completely ignored all attempts by the CDA to stay put, who had begun to only half heartedly order him around since he had a tendency to disobey them anyway. That left Mike in charge of baby-sitting, which he was in no mood to do. Celia took over from him after a moment, cradling the child herself and trying to calm her down. To some degree, it had worked. She still sniffled and whined, but was no longer screaming like she had been before.

Surrounding neighbors had accumulated outside thanks to Boo's crying affecting their electricity. As more and more faces appeared, many began calling loved ones and contacting friends, asking if they had seen or heard anything on the news. The CDA had been forced to put up tape around the building to keep others at a safe distance. At some point, neighboring apartment complexes had been evacuated to avoid injury to unrelated monsters. Due to their involvement—and the fact that they had a human child with them—Mike and Celia were allowed to stay within the boundaries.

It had only been a few moments since their hairy companion left their sides, following his female counterpart when she decided she could no longer sit still. Apparently the doorway into the basement had collapsed, and the agents present weren't clearing it out fast enough. Ever since he had gone in, the surrounding crowd had gone deafly silent. Currently there were two groups of reporters trying to shove their way through on either side. Other than that, the only real noises were the hushed voices of the crowd and the occasional creek and groan of the building ready to fall.

_Come on, Sully…_ Mike thought, trying to will his friend into leaving the building,_ It's not gonna hold_.

For about another minute Mike and Celia watched in silence. The small green monster held his breath and eventually blew it out in an aggravated exhale. "Alright," he started, taking determined strides in the direction of the building, "I'm going in."

"Mike, _no!_" Celia called, trying to catch up with him.

Michael Wazowski was not deterred. He had taken another three steps with his eye glued to the front door. From this far away he could somewhat see what was going on inside the building, but from what he could tell it wasn't pretty.

CDA agents that were inside began flooding out, stopping the smaller monster in his tracks. Shouts of _Move, Move, Move_, and _it's gonna go _flooded past him in one mass. One agent was smart enough to grab Wazowski by the arm and pull him back a safe distance.

"_Hey_! Sully's still in there!" he shouted, trying to pull free from the gloved hand, "Are you listening?! I said _Sully is still in there!_"

As if on cue, the big fur ball appeared out of the doorway carrying two bodies. Not too far behind him, Eliza flew out of the exit as well, running so fast she was a huge blur. Seconds after the last two were out the building finally collapsed.

Brick by brick the large structure caved in on itself, kicking up dust and debris as it fell. A thick layer of smoke emitted from the fall and traveling over the huge crowd, effectively blinding and choking some. At this time the reporters were finally able to make it to the edge of the border. Their lights and camera flashes helped see as others waited for the smoke to disperse. Mike was in absolute awe, watching the fall of the building from start to finish. He snapped out of it and began looking for where Sully had gone.

There were two ambulances off to the side. An extra one had been called for some time ago. Near one of them, Mike could see Sully's broad, furred shoulders hunched in front of the doors. He began running in that direction, crossing paths with CDA members going to search through what was left for Zack.

"Sully! Sully, over here!" he called, breaking into a sprint in their direction. As more of the distance between them was closed, Mike saw one stretch rolling towards the opposite ambulance with Randall on it. Sully was still holding one other person, this one cradled gently in his arms while he silently waited for the second stretcher to be ready.

_Pat….pat…_

…_.pat..._

Mike slowed to a stop, hearing the blood droplets hit the ground before he could see them. "Oh no…_kid…_" he gasped in disbelief and looking at the limp form in Sully's arms. His eye traveled from her suddenly short, singed hair to the large gash on her leg with blood still dripping from the wound. The small monster fell silent and didn't dare to say another word, fearing the worst as he saw it.

One of the emergency care monsters gently lifted the girl from Sully's grasp, placing her on the stretcher within the ambulance and closing the doors behind them. The large blue monster stared at the door for a moment before covering his eyes and turning to leave. It was then that he spotted Mike not too far off and began closing the distance between them.

"Is she…?"

"_No_… no, she just passed out. Her leg looks bad, though, they might have to…"

Sullivan trailed off and looked away, signaling that he didn't want to talk too about it. "Randall is fine though," he continued, "Just another set of stitches, they said. The scratch was pretty superficial."

"Poor kid…what are they gonna do for her? She's _human_."

"Supportive care until they can get her to a hospital. From there, a doctor said he would be willing to do all he could, but he didn't promise much."

Their conversation was cut short by Celia's voice calling out. The two best friends exchanged glances before heading in her direction. Mike was the first to reach her, "Schmoopsie poo! Come on; let's give them some space. These guys bit off more than they could chew," he said lightheartedly, steering his girlfriend in the opposite direction.

"But _Mike_! What are they doing? Why is the one with Jane closed?!" Celia responded, handing Boo over to her 'Kitty' who gladly took the little girl, "And why do _you_ look scarred for life?" she addressed Sully.

"Honey," Mike said sternly, stopping and looking up at her with the most intense expression on his face that she was immediately silenced, "Jane's in bad condition. She wasn't foolin' around in there. They… they're doing what they can, okay?"

Her single eye shifted from Mike's to the ambulance, looking over at Randall's as well. The reptilian monster was sitting up with his arm elevated, staring off at the ambulance not too far away from his. His emerald eyes were completely dull and almost emotionless, like he didn't want anyone to know how he truly felt. His fronds were low, glued down to the back of his head and his jaw twitching each time his own wound was touched. A bandage was being placed around his waist; waiting until they reached the hospital was probably a better decision.

Celia suddenly found herself biting back tears. It was so…unreal. Like reading a really sad romance novel—at least that's how she saw it. The woman looked down at her own boyfriend, the only monster alive who was able to make her feel as loved as she did. For one brief moment she threw herself in Randall and Jane's shoes, and immediately found she didn't like the feeling. Bending down, Celia wrapped her tentacle-like arms around Mike in a fierce hug, one tear freely falling down her face. She hoped to god that she would never have to deal with losing him.

"Sorry to break up this touching girl party," Roz, Number One of the CDA said monotonously (Since she's usually so happy any other time). The three—four if Boo was included—straightened up and faced the leader. Now that she had their undivided attention she continued, "I came to debrief you on what has to happen next. Zack's body has been found, so the rest and closing of this case will now fall into the hands of the CDA. As for the humans, the little girl will be sent back, along with her door shredded—_again_. The adult will be questioned; hopefully we will be able to send her back with the prototype and not have to waste any more trees."

Just as the group thought that they were rid of the scary slug-like monster, she turned back around and fixed both Wazowski and Sullivan with a hard stare, "And let's be sure that door _stays_ shredded this time. Understood?"

"Oh right… she knows about that, doesn't she?" Mike hissed, passing a small glance at Sully. The larger monster, rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Yeah…. we're in trouble."

"_Bad kitty!_" Boo giggled, play hitting Sully in the nose as if to smack him. For the first time since this while ordeal, Sully gave her a wide toothy grin, tickling the little 2-year-old. "Bad kitty is gonna get you!" he said playfully. Like he was going to let _anyone_ take that door away.

Roz hadn't gotten too far from the group when everything went dark. From one end of the street to the other, in a wave like motion, the power began to go out. Screams of shock and fear erupted from the crowd, as did the bright flashes from the cameras and reporters intensifying thanks to the new contrast. Number One stood there for a moment, surveying the terrified civilians and confused agents before hearing a cynical laughter erupting from the CDA van holding the traitorous Number 531.

Apparently this still wasn't over yet.

Roz heaved a tired sigh, continuing on her way to do rounds with all the surrounding agents.

"I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

A/N: Supportive Care: Oxygen, fluids(maybe), cleaning the wound and bandaging it for now, simple things like that. I didn't want to get too detailed and bore you guys with little things that have nothing to do with the story. I've done enough of that in previous chapters already.

So how was that? Anticlimactic? Awesome? A little bit of both?

Sorry for cutting your luscious hair, Jane. I didn't plan on her losing it before but as I was writing this I realized the further I went that she may as well lose that extra weight.

And Roz is always so fun to write... x3

'Til next time. Thanks for reading!


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